Time's Trade
by HolyMaiden24
Summary: Zelda is the hero and Link is the prince. Navi is gender swapped, and Sheik is replaced with someone you know- or you think you know. (Takes nods from the manga.) AU. COMPLETE.
1. Time begins to tick

Since I'm incredibly stupid and doing this alongside Hyrule Warriors Warped, I can't promise quick updates, but I'll see how I go with this.

As per tradition, dungeons and certain parts that are not story relevant will be skimmed over a little, based on the assumption that you have played the game. All forgone conclusions to this fic come from Skyward Swaps, Twilight Twists, and Hyrule Warriors Warped (So, in a way, they aren't really spoilers.)

This will take a few nods from the manga (So, I recommend reading the manga first, if you do not want it's respective spoilers.) The first one, is the one I'm about to mention:

Young Zelda's hair style is based off the one in the manga when she wasn't wearing her headdress. (It's near shoulder length, with two side braids tied in the back, with a few font hairs/bangs sticking out.)

Also, Navi is a guy for this series: her male name is... basically her name spelled backwards, and it's a joke that's been done before, so I don't own that right.

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Time's Trade

Chapter one: Time begins to tick.

Time is a strange thing. You can always go forward, but never back, which is a gift no one can ever have- unless you were like me.

Had I known things now, there was a lot that I could have changed or prevented, and yet even with time as my ally, there was still things that were out of my power.

This is my story.

Long ago, I grew up amongst the children of the Kokiri Woods, where each child had a fairy companion- all but me. At first, it seemed like it wasn't my time yet, but as the days passed, it became evident that I probably would never get a fairy, and the others began to question if I was truly a Kokiri or not. I even started to feel isolated because of this, and I worried that even my closest friend would abandon me altogether.

The day I finally received mine was when everything changed and it started with the nightmare:

 _It was night time, and there was rain and thunder. I would be standing in front of some strange stone structure and I would watch as a wooden door would fall down, in time for a large white four legged creature to run off._

 _On the creature, I saw two beings- the smallest turns his head to face me, but he was too far away for me to see him._

 _And that's when I sense something behind me. I turn in time to face a similar four legged creature- only black and more evil- and on it is a dark figure. I don't know who he is but he fills me with terror as he raises his arm towards me and-_

"Hey! Wake up! The Great Deku Tree wants to talk to you!" A voice broke the dream and I awakened to reality. But I didn't want to get up out of bed, so I moaned and rolled to the side.

"The Great Deku Tree sent me bring you to him! Are you lazy or something?!"

I finally pushed myself up and sat on the bed to take a look: sure enough, there was a blue hued fairy floating in front of me. "Oh good!" He was pleased and introduced himself. "My name is Ivan. The Great Deku Tree asked me to be your partner from now on and-

Everything came together, and my sleepiness disappeared when the excitement kicked in.

"FINALLY!" I let out a cheer and jumped out of bed. "I finally have a fairy!" I danced and threw my hands in the air. "This is amazing!" I laughed. "Wait until I-"

"Whoa, wait a minute, girl!" Ivan protested. "I'm not finished yet!"

"You don't get it!" I protested as I rushed to him. "I'm the only child that doesn't have a fairy! The others bug me about it and especially Mido." I snickered. "I can't wait to see the look on his stupid face when-"

"Calm down for a second!" Ivan yelled, and I quietly obeyed. "Now, the Great Deku Tree want's me to bring you over to him. He said something about a great destiny waiting for you."

"Ok?" I was confused, but nodded. "Oh, by the way, my name is Zelda." I introduced myself.

"I already knew that- the Great Deku Tree told me so." Ivan huffed. "Why do you think I was able to find you?"

I quickly fixed my hair free from it's wild bed induced nature, before I went on ahead out of my house in time to see a green haired girl with her fairy run towards me.

"Hey Zelda!" She happily greeted me.

"Saria!" I happily waved and hurried down my ladder: Saria was my best friend for as long as I could remember, and she was the nicest person of all the Kokiri. She didn't make fun of me for not having a fairy, and she taught me how to play the ocarina too.

"Look!" I eagerly pointed to Ivan after I joined up withe her. "I finally got a fairy!"

"Finally!" Saria happily put her hands to her cheeks. "That's great news! I'm so happy for you!"

"Hey Ivan!" Sunny- Saria's fairy, who was very friendly and as kind as Saria was- greeted Ivan. "It's about time you paired up with someone." She giggled.

"Yeah... I suppose." Ivan replied as if he wasn't thrilled by it for some reason.

"So, I'm supposed to see the Great Deku Tree." I eagerly told Saria as I bounced on my feet. "I wonder why."

"Well don't let me keep you from him!" Saria laughed. "Go! It's an honor to talk to him!"

"Alright, bye!" I ran ahead and Ivan followed suit. "So, Ivan." I immediately began. "What do you like? I like to play music on the ocarina, pretend to fight, explore the woods, draw on the trees and-"

"Whoa, slow down!" Ivan protested. "I can't hold that much information at once!"

I giggled- I felt like I was flying on air, and I was too excited to be calm.

That is, until I saw who was blocking the way to the Great Deku Tree. That's when I felt like a stone was tied to my legs. A stone created by a chubby faced jerk who almost everyone either respected or couldn't stand.

"Where do you think you're going?!" Mido held a hand up as he stood his ground in front of the pathway. "Only a real Kokiri can see the Great Deku Tree."

"Guess what I got." I jabbed a thumb at Ivan, who let out a groan of annoyance.

"So Mr. High-and-mighty finally decided to pair himself with a Kokiri." Mido's fairy greeted with a sneer in his voice. "Finally lowered your tastes and landed with the misfit?"

"I see your as charming as ever, Bark." Ivan dripped.

"So, now you got to let me pass!" I boasted to Mido. "Cause I'm a real Kokiri now!"

"Nuh-uh." Mido shook his head. "Not good enough. You have a sword and shield with you?"

"Oh come on!" I snapped. "I finally got a fairy, and your still being a jerk to me?!"

"It doesn't change the fact that your a weirdo." Mido spoke. "Girls go pick flowers and stuff- they don't go trying to fight and play in the dirt and go fight off monsters like you do."

"Your just mad because Saria likes to hang out with me!" I pointed out. And it was true- Saria never hung out with Mido that much, which was mainly due to how nasty he could be to the others.

"If you keep acting like a boy, you'll drag her down to your level!"

"Look, could you please let us go?!" Ivan snapped.

"She's not good enough to meet the Great Deku Tree. Why does he like her anyway?"

"...I'll be back." I told him and turned around.

"Where are you going?!" Ivan demanded. "Sure, he's a jerk, but you can always push him out of the way and-"

"Give me ten minutes to do that." Anger burned inside me. I finally was accepted, and that jerk-face still kept being mean to me. Well I'll show him!

-Five minutes later-

I laughed in triumph as I held up a sword that I took out of a chest. "I got the kokiri sword!" I beamed at the child-sized blade with the blue stone in the hilt.

"You just dodged a rolling boulder!" Ivan gapped. "How did you do that?!"

"Practice. Lot's of practice." I replied. "Now it's time to see how many rupees I have at my place for a shield."

-Five minutes later-

"Tah-dah!" I beamed at Mido was I held both sword and shield. "Now you have to let me pass!"

As I hoped, the boy's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "You have the... and you have the-?! GOOD GRIEF!" He tossed his head and stamped his foot. Hah!

"Well, even with all that stuff, a wimp is still a wimp, huh?" He turned back to me. "I, the great Mido, will never accept you as one of us!" He walked off and grumbled.

"Well, thank Farore that's over." Ivan sighed in relief and floated away. However, I was still looking at Mido and I was still bitter.

So I stuck my tongue out and slapped my butt at him before rushing off to Ivan.

"...Are you seriously that immature?" Ivan asked.

"He deserved it." I chirped as we walked along the pathway. Before I knew it, a deku baba popped out of the ground, and Ivan let out a shriek and felw behind me.

"What are those doing here?!" HE demanded as I took my sword out and waited until the baba reared it's long neck up and then I chopped it in half. Despite that, it was still a surprise to see them here. Normally they were in the Lost Woods.

"Is this what he meant?" Ivan wondered as I finally came to the clearing where the Great Deku Tree- father of all kokiri- waited.

"Great Deku Tree!" Ivan flew ahead of me. "I brought Zelda with me, like you asked."

"Great Deku Tree?" I timidly began. "Why did you call for me?"

"O, Ivan..." The Great Deku Tree greeted in his low, yet mighty voice. "Thou has't returned. Zelda... Welcome... Listen carefully to what I am about to tell thee."

"Of course." I nodded.

"Thy slumber these past moons must have been restless and full of nightmares... As the servants of evil gain strength, a vile climate pervades the land and causes nightmares to those sensitive to it. Verily, thou hast felt it..."

"I have seen a dark figure in my dreams." I confessed. "I don't know who he is, but he scares me."

"The time has come to test thy courage." The Great Deku Tree continued. "I have been cursed. I need you to break the curse with your wisdom and courage."

"What?" I gasped and turned to Ivan. "Is this true?"

"I think so." Ivan admitted.

"Zelda... Dost thou have courage enough to undertake this task?"

"Yes!" I replied. "For all you have done for me, I would do anything!" The Great Deku Tree was like a father to me, or at least someone who protected me from harm from the greater monsters. He was as powerful as he was kind.

There was a faint chuckle. "Then enter, child... and thou too, Ivan, for thou must aid Zelda."

The Great Deku tree then opened his mouth to reveal an entrance to inside his trunk.

"Well, let's go!" I hurried on ahead.

-Inside the Great Deku Tree-

The inside was quite impressive, but I couldn't believe how many monsters had invaded the Deku Tree, like a disease into a body. That and he was built like a huge maze for some reason.

"So Ivan." I asked as I killed a Skulltula. "Why haven't you been partnered up until now?"

"I didn't care that much for the other children." Ivan admitted. "And most of the other fairies, which was why I was with the Great Deku Tree until now."

"For some reason, a fairy never came to me, so the other kids picked on me." I told him. "I wanted to ask the Great Deku Tree, but I was afraid of what he'd might say. He's been like a father to all of us, and I don't want him to get angry at me."

"Oh." Ivan's wings drooped a little in shame. "...Maybe that was why he kept bugging me about partnering up with you. Sorry about that."

"It's ok!" I laughed. "I'm just glad it happened sooner, rather than later!" I then opened up a chest to find a slingshot. "Oh!" I grinned as I took it out and pulled at the rubbery part of it. "This ought to come in handy!"

"Why is there a slingshot in the Great Deku Tree?" Ivan wondered. "In fact, why isn't this whole place built like a regular hallowed out tree? He never told me about this!"

Despite Ivan's confusion, I had a little bit of fun exploring the inside of the tree, and I even made sure to kill off all the monsters inside the tree.

"Why aren't you scared of them?" Ivan asked.

"Meh, it's just the same as squashing bugs, isn't it?" I asked. "I mean, I haven't done it on purpose, but it's no big deal."

"So, when Mido said you go fight monsters-"

"Hey, it helps to protect the forest." I proudly told him. "I've gained a little practice with deku sticks, but with a sword, I can be even more helpful!"

And so, things were normal for me- or as normal as it could possibly be- until I got to the last room, where it was almost pitch dark and there was mist on the ground.

"Well, this looks ominous." Ivan noted as we entered the room. Just when I was about to ask what 'ominous' meant, the door slammed shut behind us. I turned in time to see it completely close, and before I could speak, I heard a rustling noise.

"What was that?!" I looked around and looked up in time to see a red-yellow eye peer down upon me. For the first time today, I felt actual fear and drew the kokiri sword out, just as the creature fell to the ground and towered over me, like some sort of arachnid.

"It's a Gohma!" Ivan panicked. "What do we do?!"

Gohma approached me and I began to back away because I had never faced something this large before- I ran away from wolfos and especially something like this. If this was the cause of the curse, then how could I defeat it? This was a monster that the Great Deku Tree could protect us from, and yet it was here inside him.

"It's eye!" Ivan realized and yelled. "Get the eye with your slingshot!"

As Gohma reared up, I snapped out of it and pulled the slingshot out. I sent a deku nut from the slingshot and into it's now red colored eye and it reared back and turned green.

"Take this!" I yelled and lashed at it as much as I could. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough, and it crawled away from me and up onto the ceiling.

"Maybe it's eye will turn red again!" Ivan spoke. Sure enough, the creature's eye turned red as it moved closer to me and readied to do something. Another nut from the slingshot knocked Gohma back to the ground and I let it have the sword again.

To my surprise, the monster reared up one last time and before I could start worrying again, it collapsed and burned away in blue fire until all that was left was a pile of ashes.

"Is... is it dead?" I asked in amazement. "Did I just kill that thing?!"

"You did it!" Ivan cheered. "You actually did it! That's so- uh- I mean-" He collected himself. "Well done Zelda."

I heard a strange sound and turned to see a ring of blue light. "Is that the way out?" I wondered. "Because that would be nice- I can't stand this room." I turned to Ivan. "Hey- thanks for everything." I smiled. "I would have been Gohma lunch if it wasn't for you."

"...Your welcome." Ivan replied, and I could hear the gratitude in his voice.

And with that, I entered the ring and left the darkness behind.

-outside-

Ivan and I found ourselves outside, right in front of the Great Deku Tree.

"There were so many monsters inside you!" I spoke. "I did my best to get rid of them all, so you wouldn't be sick!"

"It's true!" Ivan gasped. "There was even a Gohma, but Zelda brought it down! You should be feeling better soon!"

There was a weak chuckle. "Well done, my child. Thou hast verily demonstrated thy courage. I knew that thou wouldst be able to carry out my wishes... Though, I have yet more to tell ye."

"What else is there to tell?" Ivan asked as I sat down in interest.

"Listen carefully," The Great Deku Tree spoke. "A wicked man of the desert cast this dreadful curse upon me."

A memory of the dark figure from my dream flashed in my mind as my guardian continued. "This vile man ceaselessly uses his vile, sorcerous powers in his search for the Sacred Realm that is connected to Hyrule. For it is in that Sacred Realm that one will find the divine relic, the Triforce, which contains the essence of the gods. Thou hast remembered the tales I told thee, of the creation of our world and what the goddesses left behind?"

"Of course." I nodded. "I know it by heart. Din, Nayru, and Farore created the world and left behind the Triforce, which was hidden away from those who have evil in their hearts."

"Thou must never allow the desert man in black armor to lay his hands upon the sacred Triforce." The Great Deku Tree sternly told me. "Thou must never suffer that man with his evil heart to enter the Sacred Realm of legend."

"Wait a moment." I realized. "Your asking me to stop an evil man from finding the Triforce? But how would I do that? I'm only a child of the forest! I'm not as powerful as you!"

"I fear that the evil man who cast the death curse upon me as sapped my power." My guardian told me with much regret. "Because of that curse, my end is nigh."

"What?!" I shot off the ground as Ivan twitched in alarm. "But I killed the beast!" I was horrified.

"Though your valiant efforts to break the curse were successful, I was doomed before you started." He continued.

"You can't die!" Ivan protested as the realization began to hit me and bowed my head in sorrow. "You are our protector, and we care about you too much for you to die."

The great tree sounded sad, but unafraid. "I will pass away soon... But do not grieve for me, dear children. I have been able to tell you of these matters, for this is Hyrule's final hope."

"What must I do?" I asked as I finally looked up.

"You must go into Hyrule Castle, beyond the woods. There, thou will surely meet the Prince of Destiny. Once you do, you must present this stone: the stone that the man wanted so much, that he cast the curse upon me."

There was a flash of green and I felt something in my hands. I looked to see a beautiful emerald in a gold binding shaped like the symbol of the forest.

"The Kokiri's Emerald!" Ivan gasped. "That's the village's most precious treasure!"

"The future depends upon thee, Zelda..." The Great Deku Tree spoke in a voice that was growing weaker. "Thou art courageous and good of heart."

"What can I do out there?!" I asked. "I don't know the world beyond the woods, and how can I tell the others that you are dying?!"

"Ivan... help Zelda in her quest. Never abandon her, and provide what aid you can."

"Please don't go!" Ivan protested. "Your the only real family I ever had!"

"I entreat ye..." His voice began so slow down and fade. "Good... bye..."

With nothing else that I could do, we were forced to watch as leaves began to fall from the branches of the Great Deku Tree, whose wood slowly withered and became petrified. Our father and protector... died before our very eyes.

It happened all to sudden. I never knew what true death was until that moment, and I was left with a feeling of emptiness, as my father was now gone, like the birds who flew off and never returned, or the plants that turned yellow and died.

Silent tears fell from my eyes as Ivan- who was losing his composure- spoke.

"We should go, Zelda. Let's fulfill his final wishes, in his memory- it's the least we could do for him.

"Y-your night." I sniffed. I wiped my tears away as I looked at the Great Deku Tree one last time.

"Good bye... Great Deku Tree."

And so, I turned and hurried without looking back.

Unfortunately, the last person I wanted to see was waiting for me at the end of the tunnel.

"Hey Zelda!" Mido demanded. "What did you do?! We heard a strange noise from the Great Deku Tree's meadow!"

"...The Great Deku Tree..." I tried to speak. "He... he's dead."

"He... died?!" Mido's smugness dropped in place of shock.

"It's true." Ivan admitted. "He was placed under-"

"How could you do a thing like that?!" Mido yelled at me. "It's all your fault!"

"W-what?!" I protested. "No! I didn't do anything!"

"I should have known!" Mido sneered. "The fact that you didn't have a fairy until now was bad enough, and then you went off and killed him!"

"That's not true, you little brat!" Ivan sneered before turning to Bark. "Farore, no wonder you two are a match!"

"And how do we know that you weren't a part of it?!" Bark sneered back.

"I ought to-" Ivan grumbled, but then I dashed past Mido and he was forced to fly towards me.

"Where are you going?!" Ivan demanded as I hurried to my house as fast as I could.

"I can't stay here anymore!" I told him as I ran and more tears began to fall. "Mido is going to tell the others, and they'll think I'm responsible! And then I'll never be able to come back! I won't even get to see Saria anymore!" Sad as it was, it was true: Mido would tell them, and the death itself would make them believe me to be responsible.

I would have to leave, before something would happen. I didn't stop running, even after I reached my house and entered it.

"I don't have much time!" I gathered what rupees I could find and stuffed them in my wallet. I then quickly grabbed what food I could possibly need, a few necessities, and I grabbed a special pouch that could fit almost anything inside of it.

"You might need a new change of clothes." Ivan noted. "Yours look really dirty and torn up. They aren't fit for the journey ahead."

I glanced at what I wore: the kokiri green clothes were already becoming too small for me, and it was time for a new outfit. I only had a few sets left, but they wouldn't do, so I hurried to a dresser where I pulled out an outfit that Saria found one day for me for my birthday, even though it was too big at the time. It was a short sleeved white dress that fell to my knees and it had stripes on the sleeves. With it was a sort of dark pink vest and even a belt.

There would be no time to put them on now. I put those away and I was about to turn when I saw a gold brooch with a pretty red stone on the dresser. I had it for as long as I could remember and the Great Deku Tree said it came from my mother.

Kokiri's don't have a mother spirit to watch over them, so when I asked what he meant by me having a mother, he promised he would tell me when the time came. I guess now I'll never know. I grabbed the brooch too: whatever it was, it felt very important to me and was my greatest treasure.

I was finally ready to go, and Ivan followed me as we rushed down the ladder, through the open area, and into a tunnel that was usually blocked off by a Kokiri on guard. I was halfway across the bridge, when a voice stopped me.

"Oh, you're leaving..."

I turned to see Saria by the side of the bridge, along with Sunny. She looked rather sad.

"I didn't do it!" I frantically told her. "I wasn't responsible for his death!"

"I know." Saria replied. "You loved him as much as we did."

"Then why are you here?" I asked as I approached her.

"Because I knew..." She hesitated. "I knew that you would leave the forest someday."

"What does that mean?" I asked in confusion. "I thought we would be here together forever."

"It was going to happen one day." Sunny quietly spoke. "You weren't meant to stay here forever."

"You are different from me and the others." Saria continued as she closed her eyes with a smile. "But that's ok. We will be friends forever, won't we?"

"Of course!" I finally smiled, despite the pain. "Forever and always, no matter what!"

Saria took out something from her pocket and held it out. "I want you to have this ocarina." She spoke. "When you play it, I hope you will think of me... and maybe one day, you can come back to the forest to our secret place, and visit. Whenever you play my song, I'll be able to hear you, and know that you are safe."

"Saria..." I looked at the clay ocarina. I finally took it and smiled. "Always. I'll play everyday, and I won't forget." I promised her before drawing her into a hug. In turn, she returned the hug.

"See you later, Zelda." She whispered. "I'll always be your friend."

"I'll always be your friend too." I replied back before I let go of her and raced on ahead.

"Take care of her, Ivan!" Sunny yelled to my companion. "She's worth being your companion- trust me!"

"I will, Sunny!" Ivan yelled back.

And so, I ran. I never stopped running until, for the first time ever, I left the woods and past the trees to see a wide field as far as the eye could see. There were no trees to be seen: all there was, was grass, hills, and unfamiliar landmarks. It was all overwhelming and it was all so new to me.

"So... this must be Hyrule." I realized. "It's- it's amazing!"

"It sure is!" Ivan spoke. "I never knew it could look so beautiful!"

I looked up into the sky in time to see a great owl fly across it. It was a good sign for the freedom I gained.

"Ivan." I began. "Thank you for being my fairy. I'm glad you stuck with me, despite all that's happened."

"I should say that I'm glad the Great Deku Tree paired me up with you." He sincerely told me. "And I'll stick with you for as long as possible- just as he asked of me."

I grinned. "So then- off to Hyrule!"

"Yes!" Ivan cheered as we hurried towards our destiny.


	2. Girl meets boy

**MistIndigo** : Ivan is still developing in personality, so we will see if he is like Navi or not. I've drawn Zelda's outfit for this story, but I haven't made anything post-worthy yet. Maybe later.

For **Patrick the almighty observer** and **Thegeniusyosh** i: I don't know if I will write those fan fics anytime soon. I can't see their guaranteed futures at this exact moment.

WARNING: This chapter could give you diabetes.

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Chapter two: Girl meets boy

"Why is the sun setting so fast?!" I complained. We went as far north as we could, towards a huge stone structure, and yet the sun was setting by the time we reached what looked like a fortress. "It's like time is faster here!"

"Maybe you overslept?" Ivan asked me.

"It doesn't matter, I'll find Hyrule Castle, even if I have to look all over Hyrule!" I swore.

"I'm afraid that would be unwise, young one." A voice spoke.

We turned to see the great owl from earlier, and he was huge! He was as big as my house! "Ah, don't eat me, I don't taste good!" I panicked and waved my hands out. "I have a mission to attend!"

"I will not, my child." The owl chortled. "I do not eat children. I know who you are, and what you have been tasked to do. My name is Kaepora Gaebora, and I came to warn you that if you continue north, they will close the drawbridge to Hyrule Castle town, and you will be forced to run away from monsters throughout the night."

"...You're joking, right?" Ivan asked.

"If you wish to seek shelter, you should go to Lon Lon Ranch, which is just to your left."

"That fortress?" I wondered as I glanced towards it. I turned back to Kaepora Gaebora. "But why would monsters come out at night?!"

"It's because of the darkness that is closing in on the kingdom." The owl informed us. "And it will not go away until someone fixes the problem."

"Well, I suppose we could give it a try." I decided before I waved to the owl. "Thank you so much, Mr. Gaepora."

"It's Kaepora Gaebora, but I understand." The owl hooted out a laugh before he flapped his wings and took to the sky. "And good luck, young one!"

"BYE!" I waved to the bird before I took to the ranch, with Ivan in tow.

The first thing I noticed was that this 'ranch' was a place where they kept strange white birds, black and white creatures, and other animals like the ones from my dream. I could also hear faint singing, which came from a girl about my size, who was walking away from the large opening and headed towards the huge house.

"What a pretty voice." Ivan complimented as I walked towards her.

"Um, e-excuse me?" I shyly asked the long red haired girl, who stopped singing when she noticed me. "A-are you the owner of this 'Lon Lon Ranch?"

She giggled. "My father is the owner. I'm his daughter, Malon."

"Um, if it's not too much to ask," I began. "I need a place to stay for the night, if it's not too much troub-"

"Is that a fairy?!" Malon gasped when she saw my companion. "Are you from the forest?"

"Yes?"

She squealed in delight and clapped her hands together. "That's amazing!" She looked at me with eager eyes and asked. "I want to hear all about it!"

It was thanks to Malon that I was told all that I needed, in exchange for stories about the forest. Apparently they raised cucoos, horses, and especially 'cows' for milk to sell to the town and the nearby village. Malon grew up at this ranch and worked hard to make sure it ran smoothly, alongside her father and the ranch-hand. Well, mainly the ranch-hand, because apparently her father liked to sleep a lot, if her displeasure was any indication.

I told her of my life, but I left my mission out. She enjoyed my stories and I felt that I made a new friend that night.

She was also taken with Ivan. "He's so pretty." Malon cooed.

"Uh... thank you Malon?" Ivan was taken by surprise and he sounded a little embarrassed by her words. However, I think that if a fairy could blush, then he did just that, because he turned a few shades blue.

"Come on!" Malon took me by the hand and lead me towards the bigger of the two buildings. "We're having roasted cucoo tonight, along with pie for desert. I'll just tell father your my friend and he won't try to make you pay or something dumb like that."

-I'm sorry if any of my readers are vegan-

As Malon had said, her father- Talon- was a sleepy looking man, but he was very nice. He was also the first adult I had ever seen and I wondered why he had so much hair on his face and so little on his head.

The ranch hand was a very irritated looking man named Ingo who liked to grumble a lot. As soon as he heard that I was Malon's friend, he left me alone and didn't bother to talk to me during my stay.

However, I enjoyed meeting new faces, after going up with the same children for so long, and despite how annoyed Ingo was at Talon, everyone seemed to get along ok. The food was also _so_ good- it was the first time I ever had milk, which was really delicious. Malon told me that it came from the 'cows' that were raised on the ranch, and that it was used in all sorts of dishes and could even be flavored with fruit or 'chocolate.'

Thanks to the kindness of Malon and her father, I was able to have a chance to clean up and even have a good night's sleep without any nightmares. I was still sad over the death of the Great Deku Tree, and I kept him in my prayers before I fell asleep- it had been a long, eventful day, and I hoped that tomorrow would be happier.

The very next morning, I was finally able to tidy myself up and put on the outfit that I kept.

"You look good!" Malon smiled as I finished tying my side braids together.

"Thanks." I smiled as I then fastened the brooch above my vest- I didn't look like a Kokiri anymore, but that didn't bother me so much. I had a feeling that I would need to look my best for the 'prince of destiny' anyway.

"It's almost eight." Malon told me. "The gate should open any minute now."

I quickly gathered by belongings and stuffed them into the special pouch- including the sword and shield- and smiled at Malon. "Thank you so much for letting me stay." I smiled and gave her a quick hug. "I promise I'll come back to visit some time!"

"That would be great!" Malon was excited about this. "I would love to have you and Ivan over." She looked at my companion with a grin.

"Well- why not?" Ivan let out a light laugh. "Maybe we will have a chance to meet up again."

-Hyrule Castle Town-

"Oh... my... gosh." I stared in excitement at my surroundings.

I had never seen so many people before in all of life, or so much color or buildings. Everything in my world used to be peaceful, with nature and lots of green, but here everything was bustling, people were going about their day, and there was a lot of excitement! I could even here music playing, and I felt like dancing out of joy because of all that was happening to me.

"This is incredible!" Ivan was just as exited as I was. "Look at everything!"

"Move out of the way!"

"Has anyone seen my precious puppy Richard?!"

"Potions! Buy some potions!"

"Fresh bread! Cakes!"

"Ah, come back here!" A girl chased after a cuccoo.

"Oh Honey..." A couple dancing giggled and I observed them as the man touched his lips against the girl's cheek. Was that what was called a... kiss? I saw Malon do the same when she greeted her father that morning. I guessed that it was a way of showing affection in Hyrule.

"How will we find the castle?" Ivan asked. "I see a big structure ahead of us, beyond the outskirts of the town."

"I... I really want to explore." I looked around longingly at all these new things. I wanted to partake in it all, even though I knew I had a job. "But I suppose we could ask."

"That would be- LOOK OUT!" Ivan yelled out in a panic. I turned in confusion and before I knew it, something red crashed into my stomach and I landed to the ground with a great 'Omph!'

I could feel something scrambling on my stomach, and I raised my head in confusion to see some great big horned lizard about a fraction of my size, scrambling to get off me, while still holding a huge fish in his mouth.

"You there girl!" A man raced towards us. "Grab that creature!"

In confusion, I obeyed and held onto the lizard, who tried to escape, but it was futile as I kept a tight hold on it. Just as the man approached me, a new voice yelled out. "Mister, wait!"

The man turned around and I saw a blond haired boy about my size run towards us. He was dressed like the children of the town, but I noticed that he carried a sword on his back- and by the look of the angle of the belt, I judged that he was left handed.

"Mister, I'm sorry- I'll pay for the fish!" The boy panted as he came to a stop in front of him. "I'm still trying to teach him, but he doesn't like to listen!" He quickly took out a blue rupee from within his green shorts and gave it to the man, who growled as he walked away.

"Um," I finally spoke as I still held the creature, and the boy turned to face me. "I still have your lizard, if you want him back." I stood back up, and continued to hold the creature, who happily devoured his fish. "I was only listening to that man."

The boy blinked in surprise at me and I could have sworn his face turned a little redder than it already was from running, but it was probably my imagination. "Uh- thank you!" He stammered as he took the creature from me. "And Volvagia is actually a dragon. Calling him a lizard is an insult to his kind." He added.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" I put a hand to my mouth in embarrassment. "I didn't-"

"You know, you should ask him about getting to the castle, since we didn't ask Malon." Ivan reminded me, and the boy stared at the fairy in great interest.

"Are you from the forest?" He asked me as Volvagia happily purred in his arms.

"I am." I smiled. "I'm on a mission to go to Hyrule Castle from the Great Deku Tree and meet the prince of dest- I mean, I would like to go to the castle!" I stammered as I realized my mistake and looked towards one of the buildings and tried to find it before I gave up. The boy blinked and gave me a thoughtful look before he grinned. "I can get you there- though you don't seem too eager about it."

"...I want to explore the town." I admitted. "I've never been here before."

"Then how about I show you around!" The boy beamed. "And then I can take you to the castle!" He held out his left hand for me. "My name's Link!"

"Mine's Zelda!" My smile widened as I took his hand and shook it.

"We don't have time to explore!" Ivan snapped. "We have to go to-"

"It'll be fine!" Link assured him. "Besides, they don't let just anyone in the castle- unless you know a secret shortcut, like I do!"

Despite Ivan's protests, I felt no danger to what I was doing. For the first time in so long, I was hanging out with a child of my age besides Saria and I was happy about it.

This boy who held a sword and had a pet dragon took me everywhere. He showed me all the stores, and even to the buildings where you could play games for fun, like the bombchu bowling alley and the shooting gallery, where we played for quite sometime, and he helped me improve my aiming with the slingshot.

"That's the Happy Mask Shop." He pointed to an odd looking building. "The owner is odd, but the masks are so cool!" To my delight, we went in and found a ton of masks, and I even was able to purchase a cute cap with bunny ears that I quickly put on!

"Don't waste your money on these!" Ivan pleaded, but then Volvagia growled at him, as if to say 'leave her alone.'

Link then took me down another part of the town and pointed out other buildings. "There's the school." He spoke. "A lot of the children my age go there to learn about things."

"Kind of like how the Great Deku Tree teaches us, and how the know-it-all brothers have something to tell you." I wondered before I asked. "Do you go to school?"

"I have a tutor." Link confessed before pointing to another building. "That's the library, where you can barrow books. Do you like to read?" He asked.

"Uh," I frowned. "I know how to, but the only books we have are the ones we find in the forest, and most of them are hard to read. I prefer picture books, because they are easier to understand."

"Maybe I'll lend you some books on fables and fairy tales sometime." Link promised me.

After that, Link look me to the outside of a large, beautiful building to the east.

"This is the Temple of Time." Link spoke in awe as I held onto Volvagia for him. "The Temple of Hylia once stood here, until it was destroyed by time. The great sage Rauru built this temple, and it's said that a very sacred sword rests in wait until a worthy soul draws it from it's pedestal."

"Wow." I was amazed as Volvagia wiggled in my arms until he was in a more comfortable position. "It's really beautiful!"

"They say one of the keys needed to get to the sword is a special ocarina." Link continued. "It was made by a god that was reincarnated into a human as a gift to the girl he loved-" He suddenly stopped and turned away in embarrassment.

"That is so sweet." I sighed.

"It's just a story though." Link nervously laughed. "I was never interested in that part of the story- I prefer adventure."

-later-

"So, why a 'dragon' for a pet?" I asked as we ate some small cookies from a bakery that were delicious and had something called 'chocolate' in them.

"Dragons are supposed to be incredibly dangerous." Ivan added. "How did you tame him?"

"He's not a pet, he's my friend!" Link frowned. "They sold him here in the market like some type of bird and he looked miserable, so I bought him. He tried to set me on fire and bite my hands when I tried to free him, and we didn't get along, but he kept following me and even saved me once from a monster, so now we're friends." He smiled at Volvagia who chirped and, to my surprise, said "Link!"

I gasped. "That's incredible!" Ivan flew up to Volvagia, who purred in happiness. "I heard that some dragons were capable of speech and can repeat words!"

"I'm glad mother let me keep him." Link added. "I hope that he can learn our language, and maybe we could befriend other dragons, so that we wont have to fear them."

"Most creatures are scary, but it's nice when you can manage to reach out and make friends with other beings." I admitted. "So are you a traveler?" I asked. "You have a sword, and I have one too, but I put it away at the moment."

Link grinned. "I'm practicing my sword fighting skills: one day, I'm going to explore all of Hyrule and use my findings for the good of others! Maybe one day I'll even explore the other regions beyond our borders!" There was a happy, passionate look in his eyes when he spoke those words, and I felt a strong admiration for him.

"Maybe I could join you!" I told him. "I don't have any place to go anymore- I can't go back to the Kokiri Woods." I frowned at the memory before I gave him a hopeful look. "That is, if you are ok with that. Once I'm done with my mission, I'll come along with you."

Link's face suddenly turned as red as Volvagia's scales. "Uh-" He stammered. "That- that would be- I mean." He ran a nervous hand through his blonde hair and looked around, but then he froze. "Oh no." He muttered.

"What is it?" I asked. Link turned to me as quickly as possible. "Listen." He began. "There's a wall of vines that you first climb up on the right hill of the path to the castle. Climb up it, and you should be able to get over the first gate. After that, there's a pathway on a hill in between the guards- they won't notice you. Once you get close enough, climb up a set of rocks on the left of the second gate to the castle. There will be an opening where water comes out: climb through it and you'll reach the courtyard. Avoid the guards and you'll come to a courtyard at the end of the path, where I'll be waiting."

"What, what?" I asked in confusion, but Link quickly scooped Volvagia up and ran off towards a white haired woman who was looking around for someone. I watched him talk to her, before they headed towards the castle.

"...Looks like he ditched you." Ivan noted. "Figures- boys can be weird like that. They try to say or do stupid things to impress you."

"But he gave us advice." I got up and followed them. "Come on, lets go."

-later-

Hyrule Castle looked incredible, but even though I wanted so much to go inside, I took Link's advice and followed the pathway he told me about.

After a nerve wracking journey to get pass the guards and getting my clothes slightly dirty again, I made it into the castle, with the additional help of Ivan, who served as a second set of eyes and warned me about when the guards were coming or not. Finally, I made it into the courtyard that Link told me about.

"Wow..." I was amazed. It was a good sized courtyard surrounded by stone walls and water, where flowers and trees grew- and standing at the window, was Link.

"Hey!" I waved to Link and walked towards him. I saw Volvagia was there too, and he was happily chasing after some butterflies in the flowers and I giggled at this, before returning my focus to Link.

"Hi." He smiled back and stood straight up. "Somehow, I had a feeling you would make it."

"Thanks to me!" Ivan huffed. "Why didn't we come with you if you were going to the castle too."

"The truth is-" Link nervously bit his lip. "First, I have a question: do you carry the Spiritual Stone of the Forest? Also known as the Kokiri's Emerald?"

"Actually, I do." I was surprised at this. "Why do you ask?"

"You do!" Link looked relieved. "That's amazing- I had a feeling I would be right about you!"

"See the truth is, I had this dream of a great storm over Hyrule." He began. "But then a light came out of the forest and pierced the darkness. Out of the light came this girl, and not only was a blue fairy with her, but she carried the Kokiri's Emerald with her. I had a feeling that the dream was a prophecy for what was to come, and I was right. When I met you, there was something familiar and I believed that you were the figure of light from the dream."

"So-" I blushed. "If you knew this and-"

"I wasn't completely honest with you." Link looked embarrassed before he confessed. "See... my full name is Link Khronos Hyrule. My mother is the Queen of Hyrule... and I'm the crown prince."

I gasped. "Your... your the prince of destiny! The Great Deku Tree wanted me to find you!"

"Thanks a lot for not telling us sooner." Ivan sarcastically thanked Link.

"Sorry." Link apologized. "But I had to keep it a secret. I escape the castle sometimes, because I hate being here almost every day."

Link continued. "So... I need to tell you a secret about the Triforce, that was passed down in our family." As we sat down on the steps, he began.

"Initially, the Triforce was created by the sacred three: Din, Farore, and Nayru. While they left it in the care of Hylia- their brother and our kingdom's namesake- it eventually passed into the care of those who swore to protect it. See, if a good heart makes a wish upon it, the world will prosper, but if an evil heart touches it, the world will be thrown into chaos.

So, Rauru and the ancient sages built the Temple of Time to house a domain beyond our world, where the Triforce could stay hidden away from others who are tempted- also known as the Sacred Realm.

The entrance is sealed by a stone wall, known as the Door of Time. In order to open it, you need the three spiritual stones, and the treasure that I spoke of. The one my family has guarded ever since Hyrule was created: the Ocarina of Time."

"...That's a lot to take in." I admitted. "I mean, it's incredible, but-" Then I remembered that the Great Deku Tree told me. "Someone is trying to get in, right?"

Link looked upset. "Something represented the darkness from my dream. A man has come to the castle, and I think it's him- I get this overwhelming feeling of something horrible when I see him."

He glanced to the window and got up to walk towards it, and I followed suit. He peered through the window and his face suddenly fell. "No... please no."

"What is it?" I asked.

"See for yourself." He moved away to let me take a peek.

I didn't see too much at first- just more guards on stand by. Then, I saw a man enter: he wore intimidating dark clothes that made him look like a warrior, and he bore a strange jeweled headpiece upon his forehead. His hair was like flames, his skin was a strange greenish brown, and he had features that reminded me of a dangerous predatory bird that would snatch up a creature off the ground- and I realized, that he resembled the dark figure from my own dream.

"You see him?" Link asked me as the man bowed. "That is Ganondorf Dragmire, the leader of the Gerudos. They hail from the desert to the west. They never get along with Hyrule, and for some reason, he now swears allegiance to my mother. Not only do I find that strange, but I don't think he is honest in what he has said to her."

At that moment, Ganondorf turned his head towards me, as if he sensed me. In the second before I looked away from the window, I sensed something dangerous about him when he looked at me in interest.

"He saw me." I told Link as I walked away from the window and crossed my arms behind me. "But I could sense danger from him." A realization hit me as Link walked towards me. "He... he killed the Great Deku Tree." I began. "He was after the Emerald... he wants to take over Hyrule, doesn't he?" I turned to look at Link in alarm.

"He's the one who's guilty, not you!" Ivan growled. "He should pay."

"There's still a chance we can beat him first." Link told us. "As long as we get the other Spiritual Stones before he does, and keep the Ocarina of Time from him." He then looked upset again. "I tried to tell mother, but she wouldn't listen- she thought I was being paranoid, but when I see that man, I get this sense of dread and a feeling that something is wrong. It's bad enough he is known as a merciless warrior, but he is said to have the power of the dark arts at his disposal. I think he will go after the Triforce and take Hyrule for his own, if he has the chance!"

"So if other tribes are protecting the other stones, they will be in danger too." I realized. "I can't let that happen after-" I gritted my teeth and shook my head. "I'll find the stones and protect them!" I grabbed Link's hand. "I don't want anyone to die because of that man."

"And I'll protect the Ocarina of Time." Link firmly nodded. "If we get to the Triforce before Ganondorf does, we can stop him!"

"So where do I go?" I asked.

"The spiritual stone of fire is in the possession of Darunia- the chieftain of the Gorons." Link grinned. "He's my Sworn Brother- if you tell him what is going on, he will be our ally. As for the spiritual stone of water-" He then grimaced. "It belongs to princess Ruto of the Zora tribe. If she doesn't believe you, then the only way she will hand it over is if you tell her that I said 'yes.' It doesn't matter what that means right now." Link quickly added.

"I'll try to remember." I sincerely promised as I let go of Link's hand.

"Impa will be able to get you out of here." Link glanced over to the entrance and I looked to see the white haired woman from before.

"Ah, one more thing." LInk quickly grabbed a piece of paper and wrote on it. "Always kept it on handy." He told me. "Show the guard at the base of Death Mountain this, and he'll let you through."

"Ok." I smiled as I carefully pocketed it.

"Also..." Link gulped and held his hand out. "I'm sorry I can't go with you, but it would look suspicious. So I wish you the best of luck, and be safe."

I was very appreciative of his kindness. "Thank you... Link." I then recalled what Malon and the couple did as a sign of affection, and, without thinking, I gently spoke "Be careful, ok?" and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

The reaction was amazing: Link let out a strange noise and turned really red.

"Uh y-you too." He squeaked. "B-bye!" He waved.

"Bye!" I waved back as Ivan and I headed towards Impa.

"You just kissed the prince." Ivan flatly told me.

"So?" I asked.

"You saw how he reacted, right?"

"Uh- yes?"

Ivan remained silent when we reached Impa- a red eyed woman who looked quite fit, nimble, and capable of surviving a fight in combat. She seemed amused at what I did as she led us out.

What was the big deal? I only kissed Link.

-Back with Link-

She... just kissed me.

...I just got kissed by a girl and I actually liked it!

I collapsed to the ground and let out a laugh as I clutched my cheek. I mean, she was really cute but-!

I wanted to run around and do something stupid, and it was taking everything I had to stay grounded and relax before everyone in the castle wondered why I was turning into a mess. Unfortunately I could not stop smiling!

Volvagia came leaping towards me as best as his hind arms would allow him to and he gave me a cheery 'Link!'

"I know!" I told him. "I prefer having a girl for a friend but-!"

I then looked down and noticed something- the girl dropped something big and green. It looked an awful lot like a cap, like the Knights of Skyloft used to wear. I picked it up and decided to return it to her when she got back.

...Ok, she was really cute. And I liked that she wanted to explore too.

"Zelda, huh?" I looked into the sky as Volvagia sat beside me. "Why... does that name sound familiar?"

* * *

...You guys are going to kill me, since you can guess what's going to happen later on, aren't you? Let's not dwell on that right now.

Also, it looks like Skyward Swaps Link did his descendant a huge favor and helped him impress a girl with his own romance. *giggle* Link DID get a kiss from Zelda from the manga in the exact same way and his reaction was _epic_ (and possibly mirrored the shippers reactions)!

Link's sword is the 'Kokiri Sword' from Majora's Mask. AKA the two handled one from Hyrule Warriors AKA 'clearly different design' in keeping with his use of that type of blade throughout this series (because he deserves to keep his badasssery, even as a cute kid.) Brownie points goes to those who get the reason behind Link's middle name.

And yes- I wanted Link and Darunia to be sworn brothers- there's some things that are just too good to change from it's original content.

Well, I'm going to try to finish the next chapter of Hyrule Warriors Warped, before I can continue. See you soon!


	3. Of rocks and bombs

**HeroAlexa249** : Almost ten years ago, I read scans of the manga on Zelda Infinite. I was SUPER happy at the kiss, but I was really amazed at what they did with Volvagia and I was unable to play through that level the same way the next time I played Oot. Volume 1 is pretty good, and you can see how it inspired this fan-fic and You-know-who's move set with the horse from HWW.

 **Phoenix Champion:** *backs away slowly* I got to admit, I'm now a little scared of how everyone will react when we get to the Fire Temple. And yeah- Link still gets stuck with Ruto. Speaking of, why do I get the feeling I'll be seeing you at Lake Hylia in HWW?

 **MistIndigo:** I already answered your review through a private message, but I hope it was a decent reply.

PsycoFangirl: SQUEE! SQUEE TO EVERYTHING! There's going to be some good Zelink sweetness in this fan fic!

I'm sorry if this chapter is shorter than it should be. Hopefully the quality is decent.

* * *

Chapter 3: of rocks and bombs

"Um," I nervously looked to Impa as she escorted me out of the castle. "It's nice to meet you- Impa was it?"

"That is correct." Impa told me. "My clan- the Sheikah- has served the Royal Family since the creation of Hyrule, and I am the Prince's protector and instructor. Everything that has happen is as he has foretold."

"I'm sorry, if I'm not who you expected." I apologized- the woman looked incredibly tough, and she was probably hoping for someone else. Maybe an adult with a huge weapon or something.

"And yet, you believed him and show much courage." Impa spoke. "As much as I wish to explain, the castle is no longer a safe place to speak of these matters."

"Of course." I nodded as Ivan flew next to me. Instead I glanced at my surroundings: the castle was so huge, and well furnished, unlike any place I had been to. I saw many knights on guard, but I also saw priceless treasures and pictures upon the walls that were incredibly realistic. Especially the pictures- I had never seen an actual painting that looked realistic. All we had in the forest were mere drawings or picture books that were found or stolen from unsuspecting travelers, so when I saw the paintings, I thought I was looking at an actual person through a window. Many of them seemed to be past rulers or different interpretations of stories. (Although, for some reason there were five paintings of different characters who seemed out of place, and when I asked Impa, she told me they were friends from a neighboring kingdom.)

"These are amazing!" Ivan gasped as he flew to get a closer look at the paintings. "What is this one?" He asked as he flew to one of a pretty blonde girl with a red handled sword in her hands. "Hey, she kind of looks like you!" He told me.

"That is a depiction of the first hero of Hyrule and Prince Link's direct ancestor from fifty years ago." Impa told us. "Are you familiar with her story?"

"No." I admitted. "But I would love to hear about it one day."

And so, I glanced around patiently as we passed along the corridors and Impa told me of all the rooms in the castle, including a library and a ballroom, where people would attend annual dances.

"That sounds like fun!" I sighed. "I wish I could go! I wish I lived in a place like this."

"Keep up your charms on the Prince, and you might." Ivan muttered.

"Lady Impa?" A guard suddenly came up to us. "Why is there a child in the castle? I thought the Queen ordered us to not have any visitors other than-"

"I'll give you a raise, if you keep quiet." Impa whispered to the guard. As he watched in confusion, I waved at him. It was so nice to not have to look at the guards in fear, after having to avoid them.

"Although." Impa wondered aloud. "Perhaps we need to make a stop on the way out."

-Hyrule Field-

"My goal was to teach a melody to the child from the forest." Impa told us as I sat on the edge of a stone wall, outside the entrance to the town. "It is an ancient melody passed down by the Royal Family, and it has a strange power within the notes. Link's mother and I used to play it for him since he was a baby."

She put her fingers to her lips and began to play a song. It was such a pretty melody, and yet... I felt that I heard that song before. " _Hush a-bye, you may close your eyes_." I sang. " _You are safe with me at your side._ "

"How do you know those words?" Impa asked me as she gave me a slightly suspicious look.

"...That song sounds familiar to me." I confessed "I don't know why- those words just came to me."

Impa seemed interested in this. "Only Royal Family members are allowed to learn this song."

"So is Zelda, related to them?" Ivan asked, almost half jokingly. "That would be funny if someone said that she was Link's..." He trailed off when he realized the Impa turned to the mountain with a smoke ring to the east. "We must protect this land of Hyrule." She said.

"At the foot of Death Mountain, you will find my village, Kakariko. That was where I was born and raised. You should talk to the villagers if you can. Afterwards, when you go up the mountain, you will come across Goron City, where you shall speak with Darunia- the leader of the Gorons."

She then took out the shield that she had bought on the way out from a store and handed it to me. "Use this: the mountains are too dangerous, without proper protection."

"Thank you!" I accepted the shield.

"Remember that the song will help to prove your connection to the Royal Family." Impa advised. "And remember- we are waiting and counting on you."

"I'll do my best!" I firmly nodded and turned towards the village. "Come on Ivan, let's go!" I raced on ahead.

"So, Ivan, what was the big deal about me kissing the prince?" I asked.

There was a pause before he spoke. "Do you find him cute?"

"Uh... yes?" I blushed a little. "Why, is that bad?"

"Not really, but I think you shouldn't be surprised if you can't stay friends with him for too long." He huffed.

"What does that mean?" I demanded.

"Well, he's a world higher than you. Maybe you should just keep your relationship to a 'non-kissing' status with him."

"Well, I don't know if he liked it or not. I thought boys hated hanging out with girls for too long, and I was just being nice."

"Yeah, I really doubt that kid has much friends, besides the dragon."

"You know what- just stop." I sighed. "We shouldn't be arguing, when we have a world to save."

-Anyway...-

Kakariko Village was a rather nice little place. It wasn't as busy as Hyrule Castle town, but it felt safe and full of life.

"Uh, I'm so thirsty." I moaned as I glance up at the largest building with a spinning wheel. "I need a- oh good!" I beamed when I saw a well. I hurried up to it and quickly grabbed a canteen out. "This will be good for-"

"Hey don't drink out of that well!" I looked up to see a young boy run up to me as his friends looked on. "They say a demon lives down there and that if you drink the water, he'll get you!"

"Really?" I asked.

" _Oh come around children, I have a story to tell!"_ A girl from the group suddenly sang out. _"About Bongo Bongo whose stuck in his deep, dark well!"_

" _In the dark shadows is where he'll wait and will hide. You cannot see him without the Sheikah's truthful eye!"_ A boy chimed in.

" _He'll snatch you up out of your house and from your bed! He'll take you to his well, until your good and dead!"_ The girl continued.

" _One day, Bongo Bongo had a great big feast! He took all the naughty children and ate them up like fat little beasts!"_

" _He lured them with his mighty drum, which was greater than any church bell- with each pat and slap, the drum lead them down the well!"_

" _The angry Sheikah tribe waited until Bongo Bongo went back into his evil home! Then boom! Crash! They plugged the well, with a great big stone!"_

" _News shines through the shadow o'ver the dell! Ol' Bongo Bongo is sealed up nice and good, in the deep, dark WELL!"_ The two children shouted and threw there hands up in the air before letting shrieks of laughter.

"...Ok, I'm officially creeped out." Ivan said. "Zelda, we're going to avoid wells from now on."

"Which way to the entrance to Death Mountain?" I asked the boy. "Go up the stairs to your right and you'll see them." The boy pointed the way. "And by the way- my name's Aiden. If you ever want to hang out sometime, just let us know."

"Ok!" I smiled and waved at him. "And my name is Zelda!" I cheerfully told him, as I decided to look around and prepare myself for the journey.

-Kakariko Graveyard-

"This is not a store!" Ivan yelled at me. "This is where they bury dead bodies!"

"I guess I took a wrong turn." I admitted as I approached a haunched bald guy, who walked as if he injured his foot as he carried his shovel as a smaller boy with a stick trailed after him and mimicked his moves.

"Uh-" I began to speak to him. The boy was quicker to turn, and gave me a curious look. "Which way to the-" I stopped when the man turned and I saw that he looked-

"AH!" Ivan yelled and darted behind me. "Zelda, kill it!"

"Ehhh?" The man (who looked like some sort of ghoul) slowly looked at my companion as he whacked his hand out. "Is it one of them cheeky spirits again?"

"I am so sorry!" I bowed and ran away as fast as I could.

-Back at the village-

"What the heck, Ivan?" I asked. "I know he looked scary, but did you have to yell at him?"

"Is it just me, or is it that every boy seems to want to be friends with you?" Ivan asked in annoyance. "I saw that boy looking at you- before I saw _that_." He shuddered.

"How does that- wait, are you jealous?" I think I began to understand. After all, I was starting to think that Ivan was sounding a bit like Mido when he discussed Link.

"What- no!" He quickly spat. "Why would I? He's not the one to get's to travel around with you!"

"Right." I wasn't sure about that: Ivan must have been a little too concerned about things.

Anyway, I went to talk to the guard at the gate to the mountain.

"Yeah- no. If you have a Royal Decree, maybe I'll consider it."

And so, I showed him the letter.

"Huh- that look's like the Prince's hand writing." He took it and gave it a look- then burst out laughing. "What kind of game is this? He's letting you play hero and going up the mountain?"

I coughed.

"Ok, I'll let you through." He then opened the gate for me.

"Good luck, little miss hero!" He chortled as I went up the pathway.

I learned something quickly that day- adults were either trustworthy, malicious, or didn't take children seriously.

Ivan whistled when we finally reached the path. "Well, I'll tell you what- we don't have any mountains in the woods, and hopefully it won't be too much of a climb."

"Y-yeah." I nervously looked up at the mountain. For some reason, I had this overwhelming sense of dread about this mountain. I don't know, maybe I hated climbing up mountains in another life.

"Oh, that's right!" I snapped my fingers and reached for my pouch. "I got to get my sword!" I rummaged though it and was able to take it out, until I had a feeling that something was wrong. I rummaged through the pouch again and felt around until my face fell. "I can't feel my Kokiri cap in there." I frowned at Ivan. "I guess I felt it at Malon's house." With a sigh, I attached the sword's scabbard belt over myself, along with my new shield and continued on my way.

"Hyrule is pretty amazing." I spoke as I walked up the path (and avoided or killed the weird spider like creatures. "There are so many things I've never seen, and it's only been nearly two days!"

"I know!" Ivan agreed. "Can you imagine what the others would say if we told them? Although I do wonder why no one else has gone out before."

"They said if a Kokiri leaves the forest, they would die." I told him. "I didn't think about it at first, but I'm here now, and I haven't died yet."

"Who told you that? I mean, yeah, you would die by something eventually, but that sounds pretty stupid."

I shrugged. "I don't know, really." I then made a turn and continued up. "There was that plant monster right by the path near where we started. Maybe that was the reason."

"So what does a Goron look like?" I asked.

"I hear they are a sort of 'living-rock' species." Ivan told me. "And they live on the mountain and eat rocks for food."

"Wow." I was impressed. "You seem to know quite a bit."

"Of course!" Ivan proudly told me. "I like to learn new things."

At that moment, we came upon a large tan rock. To my shock, the rock suddenly rose up and turned into some sort of creature with purple eyes.

"Ah!" I almost screamed but then I relaxed. "A-are you a Goron by any chance?" I asked.

"I am!" It proudly told me in a funny sounding, but very friendly voice.

"Which way to Goron City?" Ivan asked it- him? I couldn't tell.

"Over to your right!" The Goron pointed to a pathway by a red flag.

"Thanks!" I waved and hurried on ahead. "I guess I met my first Goron!" I told Ivan. "They seem interesting, but pleasant."

-Goron city-

To our surprise, we entered a cave, where we found a huge underground city, as if the entire mountain was hallow! There were many Gorons inside, and some of them seemed to be rolling around, like huge balls.

"I want to yell out 'hello Gorons!'" I giggled. "I want to see if my voice will echo and if they all can hear me!"

"That does sound like fun." Ivan chuckled as a Goron approached us.

"Excuse me, but what are you doing here without a chaperone?" The Goron asked.

"I came to see Darunia." I told him. The Goron grimaced at this.

"That might not be a good idea." He told me. "You see, ever since this weird guy stopped by here, the cavern to our food supply was blocked off, and Darunia has taken to his chambers. You see that display above the city?" He pointed to a small stone platform that hung by ropes. "The Spiritual Stone of Fire used to be there, but then he removed it."

A warning rang in my head- this sounded too familiar. "Well... could you at least tell me where his room is, for later?"

"It's the door on the bottom floor, with our symbol on it." The Goron told me.

"Thanks!" I then began my journey down the city.

"This is like what happened when Ganondorf tried to take the Kokiri's Emerald." Ivan was concerned. "I hope things will go a lot smoothly this time around."

"I know." I frowned. I didn't want another someone to die because of this quest.

I finally reached the doorway and debated on what to do. "I wonder if..." I pulled out the ocarina and played the lullaby. I was rewarded and the door rose upward in response to the lullaby.

"Success!" Ivan cheered as I went ahead and into the chambers, where I came face to face with the leader of the Gorons.

"What the heck! Who are you?!" A deep voice demanded. I looked up and almost froze in fear since this Goron was a lot muscular- and a lot bigger- than the other Gorons, and he had spiky tan hair and a spiky beard (Was it even hair?). He seemed... pretty intimidating.

"Uh..." I didn't know what to say.

"When I heard the song of the Royal Family, I expected their messenger had arrived, but you're just a little kid!" Darunia was very angry and very unimpressed. "Have I really lost so much status to be tread like this by his sworn brother, the prince?!"

"We weren't sent here as a joke, if that's what your thinking!" Ivan finally spoke up. "I know it seems we might look like friends of his but-"

"Now I'm REALLY angry! Get out of my face, now!"

I bolted out of there as fast as I could and Ivan was right behind me. I almost made it out, when-

"Wait!"

I turned my head to see that Darunia was still tense, but his anger evaporated a bit. "Look kid, I didn't mean to scare you! It's just that ancient creatures have infested the Dodongo's Cavern and we've had a poor harvest of our special crop, bomb flowers. Starvation and hunger because of the rock shortage!" He spat.

"...I-is there any way I could help?" I asked.

Darunia let out a sarcastic 'HA!' and said. "This is a Goron problem. We don't need any help from strangers!"

"Even if it's the same problem across the kingdom?" Ivan asked. "Also, it's not good to deny help- juuuust letting you know, pal."

I wanted to ask Darunia about the spiritual stone, but my common senses told me that was a stupid idea. It seemed like he either needed to calm down or have something to cheer him up. For some reason, I thought of the song Saria would play on her ocarina- it always cheered someone right back up, and it was always fun.

Against my better judgement, I took my ocarina out and put it to my lips.

"Kid, if your trying to play a song for me, that isn't going to work." Darunia told me. "I'm not in the mood."

Ivan made a worried sound and turned to me, but it was too late- I began to play. At first, it was a bit of a warm up, since it had been awhile, but then I imagined all the fun I had with Saria and let it flow into the instrument as I moved in time with the music.

Darunia still grimaced, but he was still... and then-

-He dancing along with it. Like _really_ danced with it!

I slowly backed away as I still played and Ivan and I watched as the leader threw his arms in the air and spun on one foot and kicked his feet in the air.

"Oh!" He cried out. "Oh-oh! C'mon! Come on! Come on! Come on!"

"Ok, I take back what I said." Ivan told me. " _This_ makes me creeped out."

"HOT! What a hot beat!" Darunia hollered in...joy, I guess?

"WHOOOOAH! YEAAAH! YAHOOO!"

As soon as I finished my song, I lowered the instrument with a smile as Darunia came to a stop. "Hey! What a nice tune!" Darunia seemed a lot happier now. "Just like that, my depression is all gone! Something just came over me! I suddenly wanted to dance like crazy!"

"It's my friend's song." I told him as I realized that maybe Darunia wasn't such a scary person after all. "The next time I see her, I'll tell her you liked it."

The Goron let out a laugh. "So anyway, why are you here?" He finally asked.

And so, Ivan and I explained everything, and I made sure to tell Darunia about Link. Although he was greatly concerned and troubled about what he heard, he smiled at the mention of the prince.

"It's nice to hear that he is doing well." He told me. "It'll be interesting to see how he turns out as a king."

"Anyway, the spiritual stone of fire- also known as the Goron's Ruby- has been our race's hidden treasure." He told me. "But I'm not going to give it up so easily. If you want it that badly, then why don't you go destroy the monsters inside of the Dodongo's Cavern and prove your worth to me?"

"Sure." I told him. "I mean- this happened for a reason, right? So, I'll do what it takes, so that no one will suffer anymore."

Darunia shook his head as he went over to pick something up off the nearest table. "Tell you what kid- you get to keep this, to get into the cavern. Blow up the boulders blocking the cavern, and maybe I'll believe you."

"Oh- uh, thanks!" I accepted a golden bracelet with the symbol of the Gorons upon it. "And don't worry- I'll prove myself to you!" I hurried out of there.

-later-

"Can't get something for nothing." Ivan grumbled as we looked over the cliff, where we could see the cavern and the boulder blocking it's way.

"Are you sure it's ok?" A nearby Goron asked me. "Kid, if you bail on us, we hold you responsible if the monsters escape!"

I turned to see the bomb growing out of the plant. "Now let's see." I grabbed the bomb which immediately lit up. "AH!" I panicked and threw it over the fence.

"Close enough." The Goron commented. Seconds later, we heard an explosion.

"Nice." Ivan was amused. "I guess you just stay patient-"

"-And it will take six and a half seconds before it goes off." The Goron added.

"Got it." I tried again, and this time, I sent it close enough that it caused the rocks to explode and fall away.

"Slayto, what the heck?!" A Goron below yelled up at us.

"It's ok, Mags!" The Goron yelled back.

"Heh-heh." I giggled. "I made it go 'boom.'"

"Yes you did." Ivan looked over the fence again. "Yes you did."

-Dodongo's Cavern-

"Well, this looks inviting." Ivan sarcastically commented, after I blew up another wall to reveal the cavern. What we saw was basically many platforms above a floor of lava and a large blue head of a monster.

"Good thing I have a new shield." I took the Hylian shield out. "Except-" I tried to hold it with one hand, but it was hard to do this. "-it's too heavy." I frowned.

"So, are you going to squat down and duck?" Ivan asked. "Because you know why you can't use the wooden shield here."

-later-

"And surprisingly, squatting works." Ivan spoke as I dodged the big lizafos. There were too many of them and they seemed to be better sword fighters than me.

"QUIT COMMENTING AND HELP ME!" I yelled at him.

"Wait until they try to attack." He told me.

-I forgot their weak spot already-

"I got a bomb bag!" I cheered as I held up my findings from a chest.

"Oh great- now you have something to support your new found enthusiasm for exploding things."

"But it'll make blowing things up easier! Like those beamos." I pointed out. Granted, we had to use the bombs to clear some pathways, but this time, we could have them right on hand.

"Speaking of monsters- why would they call this Dodongo's Cavern if the Gorons own it?" Ivan wondered. "Yeah, we saw those creatures, but still."

I recalled those large lizards and wondered about that myself. Still, we had a job to do- we had to clear out as much as we could.

 _-_ something minutes later-

"Well, this looks obvious." Ivan spoke when we reached the bridge over the monster head. "Judging by the gaps, I guess we just drop the bombs into the eyes."

"Yeah." I agreed as I approached the first hole. A really funny idea came to mind. "Hey Ivan." I took a bomb out. "I got a bomb."

"I see that."

"And now I light the bomb." I did as I said and held it over the bridge with both hands. "And... whoopsie!" I slipped my hands from the bomb and it dropped into the hole.

Ivan chuckled. "Ok, that's kind of amusing." He admitted as the bomb exploded.

"And now onto the next part." I walked over the hole and got the next bomb out. "And so, here is my next prized possession." I began as I walked towards the hole. "I guess I'm I'm careful, it'll survive the rest of- whoops!" I let go of the bomb as soon as was close enough and it exploded in the hole.

Ivan laughed as we heard something fall from the skull. "I guess there's ways of having fun with them."

I was happy that things were no longer tense between us.

-Later-

"So why did you think that song was familiar?" Ivan asked.

"I... I don't know." I tried to think. "I know I heard that song before, but I can't figure out why. I can hear a woman singing it- isn't that weird?"

-And later, yet again-

"Uh-" I looked around in the last room until I saw the whole in the ground. "How deep is that?" I walked over and peered down. "Can you see what's down there, Ivan?"

My companion flew down the hole, before shooting back up within five seconds. "There's a huge Dodongo as big as a house!" He exclaimed. "I don't know how, but it's trapped down there!"

"I guess it's the last monster." I nervously looked down- I didn't like the idea of facing such a creature. "But I'll do anything to help the Gorons at this point."

"Just as a head's up, there's a pool of lava, so try to avoid it." Ivan cautioned.

I took a deep breath and leapt down.

After a not-so-graceful tumble upon impact, I quickly got myself up and turned in time to see a Dodongo about the size of a building. It slowly walked it's way towards me and let out a mighty roar.

"Ok, if you can figure out a way to beat this before I do, I'll be happy!" I told Ivan as I ran away from the creature. To my dismay, the creature curled into a ball and then rolled it's way at me. With only the cave's wall and the lava between the pathway, I was forced to follow it. Dodongo, on the other hand, was faster than me and I dodged, just before he hit the wall in front of me and uncurled himself.

"Ok, think, think!" I slowly backed away as he turned to face me and slowly walked towards me. He then opened his mouth and slowly drew in a deep breath, before spewing out fire, like the other smaller versions- which I also avoided.

"Wait a minute!" I turned to Ivan. "The bombs! I know what to do!"

So, I waited until Dodongo opened his mouth, and when he did, I took a bomb out and chucked it as hard as I could. It went right in, and the monster's instinct was to gulp it down before he suddenly shook and feel to the ground.

Quickly, I ran and swiped at him with my sword. It was enough to injure him, but he recovered and got up, while I was forced to run before he curled into a ball and I became as flat as a leaf.

"Alright!" Ivan cheered. "Just a little more of the diet, and we got him!"

And got him we did- after a few more rounds, King Dodongo lost his senses and when he tried to roll after me, he bounced off the wall and into the lava. Ivan and I both watched as he sank and burned in the lava before turning black.

"That was a horrible way to go." Ivan admitted as the lava hardened and a blue ring appeared beside the remains of the beast.

"Yeah." I admitted as I walked over the hardened lava (which was slightly hot, under my boots.)

"I wonder where those rings come from." Ivan wondered as I entered the ring, which took us out of the cavern.

-outside-

We found ourselves right outside the cavern.

"I'm glad that's over with." Ivan was relieved. "Now we can speak to Darunia."

"Hopefully he will be happy." I replied, just before I felt the ground shake behind me and I tripped over with a "Ah!"

I turned to see Darunia standing behind me. "Oh!" I got back up. "H-hello!"

Darunia laughed. "Well done, kid!" He then reached out and ruffled my hair a little too roughly, before he patted it so hard that I fell back to the ground. "Thanks to you, we can once again eat the delicious rocks from Dodongo's Cavern until our stomachs burst!"

"-Ugh- y-your welcome!" I wheezed from my position on the ground.

"This will make one heck of an incredible story!" Darunia laughed as I sat back up. His smile then turned into a frown. "I can't believe the Dodongos suddenly appeared in such great numbers. And then that boulder blocking the way... it must have been caused by that Gerudo thief, Ganondorf!"

"So it was Ganondorf after all." I listened to Darunia.

"He said 'Give me the Spiritual Stone of Fire. Only then will I open the cave for you.' You, on the other hand, risked your life for us." He grinned at me. "I like you kid. How about you and I become Sworn Brothers?"

"I'm a girl." I pointed out as I stood up. "So wouldn't that-"

"All Gorons see their allies as brothers!" Darunia told me. "So, in my eyes, you're a real man among men!"

"Uh...ok." I went along with it as Darunia took out a red stone in gold bindings.

"Here- there's no big ceremony, but you may take this as a token of our friendship." He told me.

"Is this the-" I was amazed as I held it up. "This is the Goron's Ruby!" I looked at him. "Are you sure it's ok?"

He laughed. "If the Prince of Hyrule trusts you, then I trust you. We share a common enemy, and I'd hate to see what will happen if someone like him takes over the kingdom."

"Darunia, I promise I'll return the stone when we are done." I gave my word with a nod.

"And you keep brushing up on your skills as you travel!" Darunia told me before he raised his voice to the sky. "Hey! everybody! Let's see our brother off!"

Before I knew it, two Gorons fell from the sky and landed right next to Darunia. They both got up and greeted me with big smiles.

"You did great!" Slayto told me.

"How about a big Goron hug brother?" Mags held his arms out and begin walking towards me.

I recalled how hard Darunia pounded me and made a quick estimate as to how painful the hug might be. "Uh... I got to go!" I ran off towards the village-

-only to be blocked off, when a Goron fell from the sky. "Don't forget me!" He grinned as he came after me with open arms.

"I'M SORRY!" I yelled in panic as I ran off and Darunia let out a mighty laugh.

"Young lady!" I looked up in time as a great shadow passed over me, and who should appear, but Kaepora Gaebora. "Grab on!" He told me.

"Thanks!" I grabbed onto one of his legs and he flew me away from Death Mountain and the deathly Goron hugs.

"I shall take you to the ranch- night shall fall, and you need a place to rest. Unless you would prefer the village." The great owl told me.

"Take us to the ranch!" I yelled. With a great chortle, Kaepora Gaebora flew me up into the sky, while Ivan held onto my hair.

-Lon Lon Ranch-

"I never want to be hugged by a Goron." I said, after Kaepora Gaebora flew off.

"Well at least he didn't take offense to your denial." Ivan told me. "I would of, if it were me."

"Imagine getting hit by a rock- that was how painful it was when he hit me on the head. Now imagine what it would be like to get a hug by a rock."

"Either your ribcage breaks, or nothing happens, because a rock is not sentient. Unless it's some type of golem."

I went on ahead to find Malon, and I didn't have to look too far: out in the pasture, where many of the horses ran, I saw her singing to a lovely red pony with white hair. "Hey Malon!" I happily waved to her as I walked on ahead.

"Zelda!" She stopped singing and waved back. "How was the town? And why are you so dirty?" She looked at my clothes in confusion. They had sustained some dirt marks, and a few cuts and snags, but they were still in good shape for traveling.

"It was great!" I told her. "There were so many amazing things, and I even made a new friend! His name is Link!"

"Oh, like the prince?" She was excited. "I know him! He's a friend of mine! How did you meet him?"

"Really?" Ivan was surprised at this. "I guess if we should have asked earlier this morning- that could have helped in the long run." He grumbled.

"He snuck out of the castle with his dragon." I told her and she laughed. "That sounds like something he would do. Oh, that reminds me!" She turned to the pony. "I'd like to introduce you to my friend! This is Epona: isn't she cute? She's going to be Prince Link's horse one day."

"She is!" I eagerly agreed and I went to reach out and pet her, but Epona suddenly backed away from me.

"I'm sorry!" Malon quickly apologized. "It's just- she normally doesn't like other people. Link and I are the only exceptions. If you try singing to her, she'll warm up to you."

"Sing?" Ivan asked as I looked back to Malon. "That song I was singing earlier- you should try it." Malon encouraged.

I glanced back to the horse and repeated the song I heard. I watched as Epona slowly walked towards me and I continued singing until she finally stood next to me.

"Here." Malon took my hand and guided it to Epona's neck, and showed me how to pet her. To my delight, Epona turned her head and nuzzled me.

"She likes you!" Malon was happy and clapped her hands together. "That's incredible!"

"Hello, Epona." I told the pony.

"Would you like to ride her?!" Malon eagerly asked. "I can teach you!"

And so, with Malon's help, I was on Epona and I learned to ride a horse for the first time in my life. I was amazed to be on her, and I scared at first when Epona went into a gallop, but with Malon's quick advice, I moved along with her from where I sat. In that moment, I became one with the horse.

"This is amazing!" I threw my head back and hollered as Ivan flew beside me. "WOOO!" I cheered.

Other than dodging guards, seeing my enemy through a window, facing down a huge Dodongo, and avoiding the possible hug of death, this had been the best day of my life.

-Hyrule Castle (Link's POV)-

As Volvagia curled at my feet, I glanced up at the painting of Hylia's Champion.

"Zelda- Hylia's Champion and first hero of Hyrule." I quietly recalled as I admired the image. So _that_ was why the name was familiar to me- I kind of felt stupid for forgetting about it.

My eyes drifted from the hero's face and to the sword in her hands. The sword- the Master Sword- was the final key to entering the sacred realm. It was said that only someone with the right kind of soul could pull it out from it's rest, and I had a strong feeling that Zelda could be such a person. I had to admit, it sounded pretty cool.

Volvagia suddenly let out a growling noise as a shadow fell over us.

"I see your family honors the memories this kingdom's past heroes."

I knew who it was and my heart stopped for a second.

"There is no wrong in honoring women. A fool who assumes otherwise might not get very far in life- as enemies of the Gerudo have learned before their demise."

I slowly turned to face him and looked up.

"It's an honor to finally meet the future king of Hyrule." Ganondorf's deep voice sounded as if he were trying to be honorable, but I felt that his eyes were looking down at me as if I were nothing- as if I were just some stupid kid who could do no harm. "From what I hear, you are rather studious and dedicated to your training. Such qualities are considered necessary to survive in my tribe. Especially at a young age."

I remained silent as Volvagia continued to growl at Ganondorf. He noticed my friend and he seemed amused by him. "Curious- I thought that type of dragon had long since vanished from this earth. How on earth did you find him?"

I still remained silent. I long since learned that if one tries to pressure you, silence usually works- it was a bad habit, but it sometimes worked wonders. Much to the annoyance of mother.

"I do not mean to inquire, but I do seek a little humor." He told me. "I hear your family possesses a sacred instrument that can control time."

Our family has two instruments that we hold dear, away from prying eyes. One was the Harp of Hylia, and the other was the Ocarina of Time- both held a close significance to our family. One belonged to Hylia's Champion, and the other was made from the long forgotten time-shift stones and was a gift from my ancestor to Hylia's Champion until the sages turned it into a key to the sacred realm. I knew which one he inquired about- I was not an idiot.

"There is no such thing." I firmly told him. "Even if there was, I don't believe in such a ridiculous fairy tale. Such stories were only to humor us- nothing else."

"LINK!"

I turned to see my mother hurry down the hallway towards us. Despite her crown and the way she held herself, she was modestly dressed to the point that she looked more like a rich noblewoman than a queen.

"I apologize, Lord Ganondorf." Mother spoke as she placed a hand on my shoulder. "He's normally open to people who come to our castle." She tightened her grip on my shoulder as a warning. Normally, mother was firm, yet kind, but I could never be able to convince her that what I saw in my dreams was a prophecy without true proof. I suppose she lost a little of her faith since father's passing.

"It is fine, Your Majesty." Ganondorf still kept his gaze upon me. "I understand if he is distrustful of me."

I wanted to tell him exactly why. Instead, I picked Volvagia up, before mother escorted me out.

"I know that you don't trust him." She told me when we were far away from earshot. "It does seem strange that he would swear allegiance to us, after all those years of fighting with his tribe, but I want what's best for the kingdom. You should try to behave and try to extend your friendship towards him."

"I'll consider it." I lied.

I will never extend my friendship towards him. Not when I could sense his hatred towards us.

I recalled something Impa told me. Apparently Zelda said she heard that song before. According to Impa, not many people knew that song, but she could have sworn that mother taught that song to a former friend of hers.

"Mother- that lullaby you sing to me- the one that my namesake composed for Hylia's Champion," I began. "Did- did anyone else outside our family learn it?"

Mother's quiet anger evaporated somewhat. "I- I did have a friend once. We used to be close and I taught that song for her daughter." She became lost in thought. "They both were assumed dead, along with her husband, during the war."

I gripped the cap that Zelda lost that morning- could she and the daughter of my mother's friend be one and the same? Maybe when Zelda came back, I would tell her about this.

I prayed that Zelda would hurry- there were only more two days until the alliance would be completed.

-outtake-

I still remained silent. I long since learned that if one tries to pressure you, silence usually works- it was a bad habit, but it sometimes worked. Much to the annoyance of mother.

"I do not mean to inquire, but I do seek a little humor." He told me. "I hear your family possesses-"

"**** off, old man." I snapped at him. "Also, if this allegiance involves marrying my mother, I'll kick you in the nuts. And I'm not talking about deku nuts."

* * *

I always liked getting the bombs in Oot: they solve everything, and take you to new places. Maybe that's why Zelda is a little too enthusiastic about them.

Anyone remember that short nursery rhyme from Twilight Twists in chapter 13? Guess what: it's probably going to be important later on.

While Darunia's relationship to Zelda is about the same as Link's, now you guys are 1/2 prepared for the OoT section of Hyrule Warriors Warped. (It's in the child timeline.)

I'm not making Zelda's origins as big of a deal as it was in the other fan-fics, because they ended up being too similar. It's unavoidable in this fan-fic, but I'll try not to do what I did for the third time in a row.


	4. Big Fishie

**EDIT:** I made the dumbest mistake and called the Wallmaster the Master Hand. Considering how evil those things are, one would think I would know better and not get the Nintendo franchises mixed up.

 **Just-AWESOME-old-me** : I've been debating about addressing the 'call of nature' but I don't think that's going to be everyone's cup of tea. None of the other incarnations 'schedules' have conflicted with their journeys, and it also makes a girl too tired to do anything. As for the sudden change in growth, it will be addressed... to an extent. (I'm trying to keep this PG-13.)

 **PsycoFangirl:** I was actually referencing the Mario paintings, but I think you got it. I like writing a young, energetic Zelda compared to her older incarnations. She's so cute, so I kind of feel bad that things are going to go south for her next chapter... :(

 **MistIndigo:** Uh... HE as in- well, if it's who I think you mean, then yeah. It's been guaranteed for this fan-fic thanks to another fan-fic from this series.

 **Spotty-Chan** : Yeah, Chronos is a reference to Time. Much like how Twilight Twist's Link's middle name took inspiration from his wolf persona from the game. I can't imagine someone would give a simple name to a future ruler/royal so he gets a fancy name like the King of Hyrule from Wind Waker has one.

 **HeroAlexa249** : I don't know about those stories, or what their future will be at the moment. Darunia is an awesome character: I always loved the dancing, and I'm glad they referenced that in HW. I wouldn't mind a hug, but after Link got the 'pat' on the head, I can see why he high tailed it.

Every time I wrote 'Barinade' I kept thinking of 'Group of Weirdos: Ocarina of Time' by Mr. Light Chicken Bulbs. (Give it a read- it's pretty funny.) Anyway...

* * *

Chapter 4: Big Fishie

" _Hush a-bye, you may close your eyes_. _You are safe with me at your side._ "

I could hear that woman singing that song, and I could feel some sort of warm embrace, as if something was cradling me, but I didn't know who she was, nor could I see her face.

I remember being held by the older Kokiri children when I was still small, but they stopped doing it when I was six springs old. I enjoyed being held and protected like that, and I really missed it- it felt like I was actually cherished and loved by them. Friendly hugging is nice, but there's something nice about being held as if someone was there for you- watching out for you. Maybe they stopped because I was too old for that stuff anymore.

But I could feel the woman cradling me that same way in my dream, and I liked it, even though I had no idea what it meant to me. Unfortunately, I had to wake up, and return to reality.

I sat up in the guest bed and looked around- it was still slightly dark and Malon was still in bed. With slight regret, I pushed myself out and got myself ready to go back out again and as soon as I was finished, I carefully scooped up Ivan in my hands while he still slept- despite his bad points, I loved him, and I didn't want to wake him up.

I was about to head out, when Malon sat up in bed and saw me approach the door.

"Are you leaving now?" She tiredly asked.

"I have to get to Zora's Domain." I told her. "Remember?"

"Oh... right." She nodded. "There's some food in our pantry. Feel free to take something for yourself."

"Thank you." I smiled and went to the door, but just as I opened it, Malon added.

"Hey, Zelda? I hope you come back sometime: it's nice to have you around."

"I enjoy being here." I replied before waving. "See you soon."

And so, I grabbed just enough for a breakfast to eat on the road, and when I left the house, I encountered Ingo, the ranch hand.

"What's a kid like you doing up so early?" Ingo gave me a suspicious eye. "Are you going to pull a prank on me? I tell ya, it ain't going to work!"

"No." I protested.

"Bah! I don't believe you! Youngsters these days- that Talon is so lazy while I have to do all the hard work! I should be the owner of this establishment! And then I'd chase you kids off the property!"

I backed away and turned to leave, just as I heard the rooster crow to call for the morning.

-Zora's River-

It took awhile to get there, but by the time I reached the river, Ivan had woken up, and I had my fill of breakfast. Of course, I had to cross through the river to get to the other side, and I had to be bootless for the duration of this part of the quest, so I wouldn't drown. Why they didn't build a bridge to get to Zora's Domain was rather confusing to me- especially since it was easier to go up Death Mountain to get to the Gorons. I hoped the Zoras wouldn't mind if I was soaking wet when I met their own Royal Family.

After I crossed the river and became soaking wet, I went ahead until we hit a few obstacles.

"There's a gate and a weirdo munching on something and they're both blocking our way." Ivan noticed this and the bald man eating out of a sack. "How can we get across?"

I saw a cuccoo and a rather silly idea popped into my head. I quickly grabbed it and as it crowed and flapped it's wings in protest, I ran and leapt over the water and the cuccoo drifted me across.

"That shouldn't be physically possible!" Ivan was in disbelief as I repeated the move again, to get on the other side of the gate. "How much does that thing weigh?!"

Anyway, it worked, and I kept a hold of that Cuccoo as Ivan followed me and I finally let go of the poor creature when I was done with it. "Coo-ka _coo_!" ("One of these days I _will_ get my revenge, little missy!") The bird told me, before it flapped away from me as far as it could.

"Is it just me, or do cuccoos seem to get easily angered?" Ivan asked me.

I continued on my way, and I enjoyed the new sights and seeing a set of frogs upon some logs poking out of the water until I came across a great waterfall. I had to do some climbing and leaping as I was hit by the spray from the waterfall, until I eventually reached the top and came across the seal of the Royal Family on the ground. I had to play the lullaby, in order for the waterfall to part ways in the middle to reveal a pathway and I leapt over to enter the Domain.

"Woah!" I found myself in a huge cavern like city, filled with cliffs and water, with a great waterfall and people that looked like white and blue fish- or, as Malon told me, Zoras. They were all swimming in the clear blue water, and they did so with such grace.

"This is amazing!" I told Ivan before I listened to the waterfall and how it created a wondrous echo in the domain.

"Yeah, and apparently they don't like people, if you have to part a waterfall with a song from a royal family." Ivan flew in a circle. "I find it interesting that most of these regions require some sort of permission to get inside."

"Excuse me?" I approached a Zora. "Which way to the King?" I asked as I recalled what Malon and Link had told me.

"He's in the throne room, but he's been under the weather lately." He told me as he pointed the way. I took his advice and all the while, I kept looking at my surroundings and admiring how beautiful it was.

I followed the pathway until I came to the throne room, where I saw a rather fat looking Zora garbed in red and gold sit. He sat upon some sort of ledge that doubled as a small waterfall. I walked up a small flight of stairs and I curtseyed to him, out of respect (and I hoped he didn't mind that I was still wet from crossing the river.).

"Your Majesty, I am Zelda." I politely began. "I was sent by Prince Link for-"

"Oh, my dear sweet Princess Ruto." The King moaned in sorrow. "Where has she gone? I'm so worried..."

"Isn't that the princess Link told us about?" Ivan asked me. "The one who we have to tell her that Link said 'yes' to, if she won't help us out?"

"Maybe we should come back." I saw a cave from where the water flowed out and followed it's direction to see a Zora standing on the edge of the great waterfall.

"Excuse me." I asked. "But what happened to the princess?"

"She disappeared." The Zora told me.

"Where could she have gone?" I asked. Perhaps if I found her, the king might get over his sorrow and we could continue our search.

"She might be at Lake Hylia." The Zora thought. "I mean, she could have ran off to the Water Temple or went to visit the scientist, but I don't know."

"How can I get there?"

He grinned. "If you want to take the shortcut, you'll need a Zora's silver scale. If you can collect all the rupees I toss over the waterfall within fifty seconds, I'll give it to you."

"Sure!" I eagerly grinned as I quickly took off my vest, sword and shield and anything else that would slow me down in the water before putting it away.

The Zora tossed the rupees into the water below and as soon as he yelled "START!"

Without hesitating, I made a quick swan dive off the ledge.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Ivan yelled.

"GERONIMO!" I yelled before I took a deep breath and hit the water.

Long story short, I got all the rupees and was granted the scale, in addition to the location of the secret tunnel to Lake Hylia. All that time that I swam in the forest paid off and I could imagine rubbing it in Mido's face for the times he told me that I would turn into a fish if I kept swimming all the time.

I finally saw the secret tunnel while I swam in the water of the Domain. "Well, looks like I'm going in." I turned to Ivan. "Are you going to join, or stay?"

"We fairies can create bubbles." He told me. To further his point, he went into the water and a protective bubble covered him up. I had to admit, it was pretty cool. Funny, but cool.

-Lake Hylia-

"Ah!" I broke through to the surface and took in the sweet air.

I glanced around to see a huge lake, almost as far as the eye could see. I saw a castle-like house, scarecrows, some type of building that required some swimming to get there, and a few islands in the middle of the lake.

"Well, I guess it might take awhile to find her." I told Ivan and looked around to find him. Seconds later, he resurfaced and his bubble popped as he flew towards me. "Zelda, there's some sort of bottle with paper in it underneath us. You might want to have a look at it."

I looked to see something in the water and I went back in and swam towards it: sure enough, it was a bottle. I grabbed it and swam back up.

As soon as I reached the surface, Ivan and I went to shore and I took the cork out of the bottle, before dumping a letter into my hands, which I unraveled and began to read aloud:

" _Help me. I am waiting for you inside Lord Jabu-Jabu's belly._

 _Ruto_

 _P.S. Don't tell my father."_

I glanced back to Ivan. "So... she's inside someone's stomach?"

"It must be their guardian deity." Ivan thought aloud. "Maybe we should tell her father. He could let us know where the spiritual stone is."

"Even is she asked not to?"

"We're on a tight schedule. The quicker we get this quest done, the better."

-Zora's Domain-

"She's inside Lord Jabu-Jabu?!" King Zora seemed surprised at the letter. "That's not possible! He would never eat my dear Princess Ruto! But..." He grew thoughtful. "ever since that stranger, Ganondorf, came here, Lord Jabu-Jabu has been a little green around the gills."

Ivan and I gave each other a knowing look- we both easily figured out what could have happened because of that visit. "I can go find her, if you wish." I spoke. "Where is Lord Jabu-Jabu?"

"His alter is behind me." The king told me. "You can pass- just give me a moment to move. You may keep the bottle the letter was contained, but keep it respectfully. Please find my dear Princess Ruto immediately!"

And so, he began to scoot over to the other side.

...At a _really_ slow pace.

-what Zelda was thinking at this time-

The king sure makes a funny noise when he scoots over.

...

...Apparently, if you combine chocolate with milk, you get chocolate milk. Does Malon feed the cows chocolate to get chocolate milk?

...

...

I think Link is cute, even though I don't think he likes girls. I don't know- some Kokiri boys act weird around girls. Mido acts weird around Saria.

...

Come to think of it, what was it that Link was willing to say 'yes' to, despite being reluctant about it? It must be _really_ bad.

...

...

I want to be a wolfos in my next life. Wolfos look really cool.

-What Ivan was thinking at this time-

****ING FISH MAN! Why don't you just roll over?! It's all you're ever good for, at this point! I swear- the people that are supposed to be helping us out are either annoying or have a lack of comprehension!

I don't mean to be rude, but what the heck did he eat to get so fat? There's a difference between naturally big boned (while maintaining your health and being happy) and letting yourself go too much like Sir Scoots-A-Lot in front of us.

...No, I'm not saying it's bad to be fat. If you can read my mind and are offended, I am not trying to be mean. It's just that this guy is just too slow and it's getting me into a really bad mood.

-Back to Zelda's POV-

Finally, the king moved all the way across. "Be sure to bring a fish as an offering." He told me.

"Oh Goddesses!" Ivan complained as soon as we were out of earshot. "I should have figured a being that fat with stick legs would move that slow! What do they eat to get so fat here?!"

"He's... the king so he gets to have more fish?" I didn't know how to respond to that.

"For your sake, I'll spare you the rant." Ivan told me. "Especially since it regards the King letting himself go."

-Zora's fountain-

We finally got the fish and we entered Zora's Fountain. It was a rather pretty place, and I could see that the waterfall that protected the entrance originated from here, but the most noteworthy thing we saw was the large fish creature that was resting at some sort of alter platform.

"So this is their deity." Ivan spoke. "He... kind of looks a bit on the dopey side." He added as he examined the fancy headgear and the great eyes of the creature. "I mean, look at those eyes!"

"I just realized something." I spoke as I put my vest, sword and shield back on. "We might actually have to go inside Jabu-Jabu." I shuddered at the thought as I took the bottle out and headed to the alter.

Ivan was silent as he took this into consideration. "Well... it could be worse." He tried to reason. "I don't know if the princess is inside the fish or not, but it's worth a shot."

I finally found myself at the closed mouth of Jabu-Jabu and allowed my fish to escape it's bottle. "I come bearing an offering!" I spoke as the fish flopped helplessly at my feet.

Almost immediately, Jabu-Jabu opened his large mouth, and I could see a black chasm beyond his large teeth. Before I could do anything, I felt a strange pull at my clothing, and I saw the fish suddenly fly into his mouth.

I realized too late what was about to happen, and I was suddenly flying through the air and right into Jabu-Jabu's mouth. All the while, I was screaming, as Ivan screamed "ZELDA WAIIIIT!"

The moment we landed in Jabu-Jabu's mouth, he clamped it shut and- for whatever reason- our surroundings lit up to reveal our current location.

"Agh!" I could feel his tongue under me and it felt slimy! "EW! EW EW!" I quickly put my boots on, even if I was going to risk drowning.

"Ugh, it smells foul in here!" Ivan grunted. "They should have invested in a huge breath mint for their deity- they owe him one for protecting them."

"Well, I guess there's no turning back." I finally had my boots on and walked into the water (saliva?). The idea of being eaten alive was scary, and I hoped Jabu-Jabu hated the taste of a small girl.

It seemed that there was a bubble (easily popped by yours truly), something like a web blocking Jabu-Jabu's throat, and Ivan noticed this, before he saw the dangly thing above us. "I bet if we hit the uvula, we can get the throat to open up."

"Uvula?"

"The dangly thing at the back of your mouth."

"Oh!" I understood and I took out the slingshot. One shot was all I needed to open up the passageway, and we went through it.

"What the-?" Ivan asked as we came into the next room. "There's a floating platform! And why is there a jelly fish?!"

"Maybe it was Ganondorf's doing?" I cautiously eyed the jellyfish as Ivan looked around the room and flew downward to see what we had to deal with.

"WHY IN FARORE'S NAME IS THIS FISH'S INNARDS SHAPED LIKE A DUNGEON?!" He yelled. "The Great Deku Tree, I could accept, but THIS?!"

"Come on!" I called for him and he grumbled as we entered the room ahead of us.

There was some sort of green pulsating pillar, more jelly fish, chasms in the ground, and a Zora child who looked about my age, but she didn't look happy to see us.

"Who are you?!" She demanded as I ran towards her.

"Are you Princess Ruto?" I asked. "I'm Zelda. Your father has asked me to save you- in fact, you even sent a message in a bottle that my partner found."

Ruto seemed surprised, but she was not impressed- in fact, she looked annoyed. "I'd never ask anyone to do such a thing!" She retorted. "As as for this 'message in a bottle'- I have no idea what you're talking about! And if my father is concerned, then that's his problem- I can't go home right now. Get out of here!"

I was taken by surprise by her sharp rudeness to me and tried to stay polite. "I can't! I was swallowed too!" I told her.

"Ha!" She laughed and turned and walked away. "It just goes to show how-" she fell through a chasm mid-sentence and let out a scream. My instincts made me rush to the chasm, but I hesitated.

"...Well, I guess we finally met the beloved princess." Ivan sarcastically told me. "Real charmer, that one."

"Unfortunately, we have to help her, if we need the spiritual stone." I reminded him before I turned and leapt through the chasm. I fell a good fifteen or so feet, before I crashed into a heap in front of Ruto, while Ivan flew down to join me.

"You're still here?!" She was furious as I got up and stood in front of her, despite the pain in my legs. "I told you to go away!"

"Why are you here, exactly?" I asked. "And why are there monsters in your deity?"

Ruto's demeanor softened. "I'm friends with Lord Jabu-Jabu: I've roamed the inside of him ever since I was little, but he's been acting so strange lately. The holes, the jelly fish- even my precious stone was-" She stopped herself. "But that's none of your business!"

"So basically, what your saying is that the inside of this creature has been your personal playground." Ivan slowly spoke. "... _Why_?"

"You aren't talking about the Spiritual Stone of Water, are you?" I quickly asked. "I was sent to retrieve it. Hyrule's fate lies in the gathering of the Sp-"

"I am not going to give it to you!" She snapped at me. "Why would I, when I barely know you?"

I recalled what Link told me to say, and I took a deep breath. "Prince Link sent me to retrieve the stone. He told me to give you the answer to your question, and he said 'yes.'"

Ruto's bitterness changed to sheer joy as she smiled and clapped her hands. "Really?!"

"Yes." Ivan cautiously told her. "What was the question?"

"I'll tell you, while you help me find it." Ruto then sat down into a cross legged position.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm giving you the honor of carrying me, of course!" She told me.

"Uh, no." I told her as I sensed that she and Mido would get along rather well.

"Only I know what the stone looks like, you better comply, or else." She almost sang.

Ivan grumbled a curse as I sighed and attempted to pick the royal pain in my butt up. To my surprise, she was light enough to the point that I could hold her up over my head.

This didn't escape Ivan's notice. "Uh- how much does she weigh?"

"How dare you, you rude little sprite!" (Guess who.)

"Like a feather." I was also confused, but I just had to accept this and move on. I had to go through some puzzles and leave Ruto behind a few times, but all went well- until curiosity got to me.

"So, what was the question?" I asked Ruto.

"Well, I was told by my mother that I should only give the Spiritual of Stone of Water to the man I would marry- it's sort of like an engagement ring, so it's important to me. I told Link this, the last time he visited and showed interest in the stone, and so I asked him 'will you marry me?'"

Ivan suddenly let out a terrific snort like he was about to snore and bursted out laughing like some sort of wild creature.

I didn't understand that reaction, or what Ruto's question meant. "What is an engagement ring and what does 'marry' mean?" I asked.

"Why are you laughing?" Ruto demanded to Ivan, who tried to compose himself. "Ah, Zelda." He finally told me. "A man and a woman - or two men or two women, which is perfectly normal- might love each other so much, that they will promise to live together though 'marrying' and they will live in the same place and care for each other for as long as they can, and even have children. An engagement ring is a promise to stay faithful to each other, until they 'marry.'"

I know what love is. What I didn't get was why Link would love this girl, or why I suddenly felt sick to my stomach at the idea of him with Ruto.

"But Link told me he wanted to travel the world." I truthfully replied. What I didn't tell Ruto was that Link seemed uncomfortable about saying yes to marrying Ruto, which made me realize right then that he didn't love her to begin with. That consolation suddenly put some relief back into my heart.

"...Oh he did, did he?" Ruto's voice suddenly went quiet. "And _how_ would you know this?"

"He told me when we hung out yesterday." I told her. "I mean, I only knew him for a few hours!" I quickly added.

"And I suppose you have a better chance, because you are the same race?" She curtly asked me.

"I'm not Hylian, I'm a Kokiri!" I told her. "And what do you mean by a better chance? I like being friends with him, but it's not like I want to live with him!"

"And what, may I ask, were you doing with my future husband in those few hours, hmm?" Ruto demanded.

-Hyrule Castle (Link's POV)-

I suddenly felt cold, as if I just heard the scream of the re-dead, and I felt something being sucked out of me, as if being sucked by a like-like.

I felt as if I had sold my soul to Demise- father of all monsters- and I shuddered. I'd rather feel the touch of a Wallmaster than whatever this feeling of dread was.

-Jabu-Jabu's Belly (Zelda's POV)-

"We just played games, and he showed me around the town." I told her.

"Look, Zelda isn't going to take him away from you, Your Highness." Ivan spoke. "She's just his messenger."

"Ivan!" I snapped. "I'm not a messenger!"

"It's true!" He told me.

"I'll believe you for now." Ruto told him. "Right now, I want to find the Zora's Sapphire."

From then on, she rubbed in stories about how she and Link were friends, since their parents held an allegiance with each other. In retaliation, I used Ruto for holding down switches. It wasn't nice, I admit, and she was not pleased to be treated in such a way, but my dislike of her had grown.

"I hate to say this, but I have an idea of what it's like to be Mido." I told Ivan when we where in a chamber with a long tendril hanging from the 'ceiling.'

"I'm about ready to give up on the logic of fish anatomy." Ivan sighed.

"I bet you like this reversal, don't you?" I asked.

"Are you jealous of her?" Ivan asked.

"Maybe- I don't know!" I threw my hands in the air. "I don't believe Link would want to marry her!"

"So you _do_ have a crush on the prince." He didn't sound pleased by that.

"I don't!" I told him, though I felt somewhat jealous of Ruto, even if I knew it was stupid of me to be so.

Thankfully, I could vent my frustration on the tendril, and I was rewarded with a lovely boomerang in a chest that somehow magically appeared.

"A lot of things are in this fish and shouldn't be here." Ivan noted as we left. "Boxes, boomerangs, treasure chests, jellyfish- I could have sworn I saw a cow somewhere in the walls."

"Why does Jabu-Jabu bother you so much?"

"Zelda, it's my duty to watch out for you, tell you what I can, and question the logic of the world- including why the anatomy of a fish deity is like a dungeon."

"Took you long enough." Ruto told us when we left the room and sat down to be carried.

"Well, excuse me princess." I retorted. "But seeing as you need my help, I'd appreciate some gratitude after this."

Thankfully I got rid of the green tendril in the room where I met Ruto, and the chasm it blocked lead to a circular room, with a spiked-edged platform and a blue and gold object. Ruto was especially happy about this.

"That's it!" Ruto told me as she kicked out her feet and struggled to get out of my grasp. "Throw me up there!"

I happily obeyed and she grabbed the Spiritual Stone of Water. "I finally found my mother's stone!" She told us. "I got very upset when Lord Jabu-Jabu swallowed it. While I was feeding him, he suddenly swallowed me! I was so surprised, I dropped it inside. But now that I have it, I don't need to be here anymore!"

"We still have something to discuss, regarding that stone." Ivan reminded Ruto. Before she could reply, the platform shook, and she almost lost her footing. And that was when the platform rose up into the chasm above.

"Keeeyaaaah! What is this?! An octopus?!" Ruto shrieked out in fear.

The platform dropped down and instead of a bratty princess, I got an Octorock three times my size.

"HOLY MOTHER OF DEKU!" I hollered, and the Octorock leapt off the spiked platform and the door became closed off. I was thus forced to run away from the beast, who chased after me, and I could see no way out of this. With so little space, all I could do was run for my life.

"It's got a weak spot on it's back!" Ivan yelled. "Keep running and use the boomerang!"

True to Ivan's word, the boomerang struck the Octo freeze it and to reveal a glowing green mark. I struck the mark, but the beast then turned around and chased me down in retaliation. This lasted for almost five minutes, until the annoyance finally collapsed and faded. I was glad, because I began to despise the room and I was actually scared when that beast was chasing me down.

"As bad as that was, that thing saved me from a headache." Ivan admitted as the platform lowered to a safe length for me to get on. "Is it bad that I wanted it to have eaten her?"

"I'm a little worried for her." I confessed.

"Well, we will find out what happened to the fish soon enough."

"She's a Zora, not a fish."

"When you are a little older, I'll explain the joke. Now let's go- I'm feeling sick from the smell of this place."

The second half of the exploration was thankfully just the two of us, but there was no sign of the princess or the stone. I was genuinely worried for her safety, despite her attitude.

"There's only three ways for someone to get out of a living creature, and since I doubt there's a tool sharp enough to cut through his body, or that he'll will spit us out, that leaves the other exit route."

"Thank you for that lovely mental image, Ivan."

"One thing bugs me." Ivan spoke. "If she said she didn't write that letter, than who did?"

"That's a good question." I realized. "Someone wanted her to be found, but why? And how did they know about her being in here?"

Around that time, we came to the final room, which was darker than the others. The door completely shut behind us, just when I saw something that was really disgusting amongst the jelly fish, which were larger than the others.

I don't know how to describe it. It looked like some sort of organ that formed a shield with the jelly fish, and it was attached to the ceiling by it's upper tendrils, which weird flower like things attached to it were moving up and down.

"I think that's a Barinade." Ivan told me. "If you can get it's core-"

The 'flowers' pointed at me, and sent a jolt of electricity at me, which I quickly dodged.

"Never mind, cut it off the ceiling!"

I hurried and kept my eye on the creature as I cut it away from the ceiling with the boomerang (bless that weapon!) but the fight only just started. The jelly fish detached themselves from Barinade, but they still were connected by electricity and they spread out.

The jellyfish swung out at me and I was forced to dodge them- I did not want to be electrocuted. When they finally disconnected from Barinade, I could attack them with my sword, and it took awhile until I could finally get them all.

However, it seemed as if Barinade could produce more jellyfish, and it continuously spun itself around the room at a fast pace and I dreaded touching it.

Unfortunately, it finally shocked me the moment I finished off the jellyfish and it came out of the ground. I wasn't quick enough and I felt every inch of my body- external and internal- experienced a horrible sensation and I couldn't keep a scream from erupting out of me.

"ZELDA!" Ivan yelled at me in panic.

I collapsed to the ground and tried to fight off the pain as Barinade approached me. I had gone through too much at that point to give up, no matter how badly I wanted the pain to stop.

I gripped the boomerang as tightly as I could and swung it out. Barinade turned blue and ceased moving, and I finally forced myself to get up and attack it's core. Even when I had to undergo the process multiple times, I forced myself to keep moving until I finally landed the final blow.

"GOT IT!" I yelled in triumph as Barinade halted and twitched. For some reason, it produced huge swollen pink things that reminded me of zits. The pink things completely covered it up, before it exploded outward and sent up a foul smelling green spray.

And I was in the blast radius.

I shut my eyes before the nasty stuff could get in them, but it took me a moment to realize what just happened: I had been splattered with zit juice.

I let out a disgusted cry.

"It's zit juice is on me!" I squealed.

"Yeah..." Ivan backed away from me as if I was dangerous. "It smells pretty gross."

"You're no help Ivan!" I snapped. Just then, I saw the blue ring of light, and I saw that Ruto was floating inside it with an angry look on her face.

"And you!" I pointed at her. "This is all your fault!"

"My fault?!" Ruto snapped. "I was getting lonely, because you took so long!"

"I had to put up with that creature, just to find you!" I told her. "I had to face many more like it, just to protect this kingdom! And what did you do, princess?! You sat around and made me carry you, while Ivan and I had to do the dirty work! What kind of ruler is so lazy and so stuck up that she doesn't help out when her deity is in danger?!"

Ruto was about to retort, but she stopped before saying a word- she finally had nothing to say. Her anger disappeared and I could see that I had de-throned her at last.

"In order to make sure your tribe is safe, I need that Spiritual Stone, along with the others." I told her. "Don't you care about them? Do you even care about what could happen to your father?! I lost my father to the man responsible for this mess! The man who made Jabu-Jabu ill!"

Ruto remained silent.

I sighed and walked into the blue light- I didn't like being angry, but I felt as if I finally said what I had to say.

-Zora's fountain-

We found ourselves standing on a log that stuck out in the water.

"You know..." Ruto quietly spoke. "You looked cool... Cooler than I thought you would anyway."

She then turned to face me and Ivan. "I guess... I guess I should reward you, since you saved me and all. She took out the Zora's Sapphire- a pretty jewel set in the formation of the Zora's crest.

"I know it's important to you." I told her, even though I was still a little peeved. "I know this was your mother's and that you were going to give this to someone you loved. I promise I'll return it, when all of this is over."

Ruto smiled. "I... I'd appreciate that. Thanks." She held the stone out and I accepted it.

"You know?" She told me. "You aren't that bad. If I didn't see you as a romantic rival, I'd even want to be friends with you."

"That's fine." I assured her, even though I had no idea what she was talking about.

And so, all ended well- Ruto was reunited with her father, who was really happy to see her again, and I finally had all the stones in my possession.

"Hey, Zelda?" Ruto turned to me, just before I left the throne room.

I turned around to see that she was thinking over something.

"...I'm sorry." She finally said. "I owe you one: mother wouldn't have liked how I behaved today. I do appreciate your help."

"You're welcome." I finally smiled.

-Zora's River-

"Alright, we got the stones!" Ivan cheered. "Now we can get back to Hyrule Castle!"

"I know!" I was really excited as I proceeded to head down the pathway. "Link's going to be so happy, and we can finally make everything right again!"

We hurried along our way, and laughed over how much we smelled like fish and would need a bath. Ivan said that the guards would smell us a mile away, and I said that maybe I should dunk myself in the water in the river, before we leave to the castle.

"Maybe they'll mistake us for fish and squeeze a huge slice of lemon over us!" I giggled.

"Nah, I think we'll taste good with some butter!" Ivan joined in. "Or maybe some salt and pepper!"

"We'll be cooked in a nice big pan and served with something yummy!" I laughed. "Buttered fairy and lemon covered little girl, with a side of fruit and juice!"

"And some complimentary rocks, straight from Dodongo's cavern!" Ivan joked. We burst out laughing as we continued to make up silly meals that involved us as the main dish.

I could not wait to see Link again: I had so many stories to tell him, when I got back. However, I vowed to myself that I would never force someone to marry me like Ruto did to him: I had learned a valuable lesson that day. Maybe Ruto and I could become friends one day, but that would have to wait, because I had something very important to do.

-nearby-

The great owl watched the young child and her companion hurry down the river as fast as they could. He chortled at their behavior: it was remarkable how, despite the odds, they could still retain their childish innocence.

Perhaps he could take them to Hyrule Castle- after all, they earned some rest.

He stretched out his wings and was about ready to flap them, when a blast of something colder than the most accursed winter hit him in the back and knocked him to the ground. Whatever it was, it was spreading to his wings and he couldn't mover them, nor could he get up.

But he could hear an amused cackling.

"You sure put that bird on ice, didn't you, Kotake?"

"Indeed, Koume!"

Kaepora Gaebora immediately knew who was behind him. "You two." He grunted, despite that he was shivering from the ice.

"We know you you are, you great big bird!" He couldn't tell which one spoke. "We have lived long enough to know light magic."

"And long enough to recognize a avatar of the Sage of Light." The other chuckled.

"The Hylians have ruled over this green land long enough. _He_ shall accomplish what hasn't been done."

"Any second, he'll relive the queen of her crown."

"And we will certainly let that little brat get there in time!"

"We sped up her progress with that letter, but that's where our generous help ends!"

"Do you want to hear what we said again?" The two asked simultaneously, in an almost mocking tone, before laughing.

"Ganondorf cannot obtain the Triforce!" Kaepora Gabora angrily told him. "He is not fit for it!" However, the twins merely laughed and he could hear them fly away- leaving him in a disgraceful state on the ground.

"Oh child." Kaepora Gaebora whispered in shame. "I am sorry. I should have been of more use to you. Forgive this foolish old bird."

* * *

Here's some sagely advice that I wish I knew, based of personal experiences:

Most boys are rarely interested in getting a girlfriend in elementary or middle school. If they are, they will do stupid and sometimes things to impress you, like singing 'do you know the muffin man' several times or they'll say 'oh this part is going to be scary' at a part in the movie that isn't scary.

Don't force yourself to get a significant other at a young age, and PLEASE don't repeatedly sing 'do you know the muffin man' to your crush. As amusing as it can be, intentional stupidity isn't always a turn on for everyone.

Next chapter: It's the beginning of the end... darkness falls over the land, children must grow up... and a girl enters a temple and comes face to face with a legendary sword.


	5. End of Innocence

**Jonaman123:** I'm not sure if the Great Fairy will show up or not, but Ivan's possible reaction would be worth a cameo.

I'm sorry if I only responded to one reviewer this time around, but I liked how everyone reacted to how Zelda gave Ruto some badly needed schooling, and how much you like Ivan.

As for who the Sheik replacement is... well... *giggles*

Alright kids, hold onto your seat belts, because we are in for the big changes and moments: including one that will look _very_ familiar to my long time readers.

* * *

Chapter 5: End of Innocence

-Hyrule Castle (Link's POV)-

As I waited in the courtyard, I practiced with my sword, while Volvagia rested by the steps to the window of the throne room. The sun was setting and, if the clouds were any indication, than a storm was coming.

"Ha!" I slashed at the air at my imaginary opponent. "Haut! Hiyah!" I spun in a circle, but I accidentally tripped an fell over into the grass with a hard thud. "Ouch!" I yelled out as my fingers were practically crushed into the handle of my sword.

"Ouch!"

I looked over to see that Volvagia had been watching me. He happily chirped out "Ouch!"

Despite my brief pain, I grinned: it was great to see that Volvagia was able to speak a new word, besides my name. "Ouch indeed!" I brushed myself off and walked over to Volvagia and picked him up. "I can't wait to see what else you'll say!" I eagerly told him.

Without warning, Volvagia saw something behind me and startled angrily growing.

I turned in time to see a scimitar pointed at my face.

"Give us the Ocarina, boy!" A Gerudo warrior demanded.

The fact that this female warrior of the desert was out in daylight threatening me told me several things all at once and while I was not surprised, I was still afraid about what was happening.

I held onto Volvagia to my body as I looked at the ground behind the Gerudo and saw that in my stupidity I didn't even take my sword with me. This woman was the very reason I always had that sword with me for the past few days.

Thankfully, I had a back up in my pockets- three, actually.

"Give it now, boy!"

I reached in my pocket and fumbled around for the object. The Gerudo- obviously thinking that I was getting the Ocarina- slightly relaxed her blade arm that was aimed at me. Too bad for her.

"Din's fire!" I yelled as I slammed the red crystal to the ground. A burst of fire exploded out and knocked the Gerudo away from me. Without even bothering to see if she escaped the blast or if she caught on fire, I ran out of the courtyard to safety.

Within seconds, I could hear that I was not going to get any help. I could hear people yelling and weapons clashing as I hurried through the halls of the castle. I wanted to yell out for my mother or for Impa, but I was afraid that Ganondorf and his cohorts would find me.

"Hold on!" I told Vovagia as I looked around while running. I could see that some of the Gerudo had not only commenced an attack on the guards, but many of the objects kept in the castle had been destroyed. Even the many paintings of our ancestors and the stories we cherished were set on fire, and it took all of my willpower to keep myself from stopping to save them.

"Your Highness!" I heard Impa and I could see her running towards me down a corridor.

"Impa!" I yelled out and turned to rush towards her, only for someone to grab the back of my shirt. I almost chocked on my own shirt collar and was pulled back, before the person grabbed my free arm.

"End of the line, kid!" I turned to see another Gerudo glaring at me before she pointed a dagger at my neck. "Stay still, or we'll see how blue your blood is!"

"Let him go!" Impa yelled as she took her own dagger out.

"As soon as he gives us the Ocarina!" The Gerudo warned. I could barely hear this as Volvagia's growling grew louder. All of the sudden, I felt a searing heat and I looked in time to see Volvagia let out a burst of fire that not only hit my shirt, but also the hand of the Gerudo.

The Gerudo let out a scream and her dagger cut my neck as she pulled away, but she only managed to cut through the skin and nothing more. In my panic at being set on fire, I let go of Volvagia and repeatedly tried to beat the fire out of my shirt, only to burn my own hands in the process, as well as get the blood from my neck wound on my hands.

"LINK!" Impa suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the Gerudo and Volvagia.

"No, wait!" I turned to see that Volvagia was on the ground, looking at the Gerudo who was now partially on fire. "Volvagia!"

"It's too late!" Impa told me as she pulled me away and forced me to run with her. "We have to get out of here! Use Farore's Wind to get us to the stables!"

"But-!"

"Give it to me! Or does the safety of all of Hyrule not matter to you?!"

With a great reluctance, I took out the green crystal and held it up as I pictured the stables. A green wind engulfed us, and suddenly, we were running through the stables, where a knight was already getting Impa's horse ready.

"My Lady!" He quickly waved to Impa. With a strength that was almost super human, Impa tossed me onto the horse, before she quickly leapt onto it.

"One of us has gone ahead!" The guard told us. "He's going to give the word to lower the drawbridge!"

"Hyah!" Impa kicked the horse, and we raced out as fast as we could.

The horse galloped as fast as it could, and I could hear thunder off in the distance. We finally left the castle grounds and the horse galloped through the town.

-Meanwhile (Zelda's POV)-

"Hurry!" Ivan warned me as I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. "The sun is already going down!"

For some reason, the sun was already beginning to set, and I was barely past Lon Lon Ranch. I felt that if I hurried, I could make it in the nick of time and get to Link, but my body could only take so much running.

"Hey, Ivan?" I noticed something off about the sky. It appeared as if dark clouds were forming above us. "Is that a storm?"

"I guess!" Ivan noticed this, before he let out a confused. "Why is the drawbridge closed already?!"

I came to a stop to catch my breath in front of the entrance to the town. Sure enough, the drawbridge was up, and the fires were already lit. As if to add insult to my determination, the dark clouds engulfed the remaining light of the sky.

"This stinks!" Ivan huffed. "Now we have to turn back!" As if on cue, lightning began to flash across the sky.

I looked up at the sky- something about it gave me a horrible feeling, as if I had done this before. I realized why: this was like my nightmare.

Suddenly, the drawbridge opened up before us, and I looked down to see a white horse galloping straight ahead of me.

"Impa!" I heard a familiar voice as the rain began to fall. "Stop! She's right there!"

"If we stop, it will be too late!"

I watched in shock as the white horse from my dreams came racing towards me. I quickly ran away from it, just as I heard Link yell my name.

"Zelda! Catch!"

I watched as Link moved from where he sat in front of Impa and tossed something towards me as hard as he could. I turned my head in time to see that the object dropped into the moat, but instead of retrieving it, I turned back to watch in confusion as Link and Impa rode off until they disappeared into the darkness.

 _Why did they leave, right when I just came back?_ I wondered.

"Zelda, behind you!" Ivan frantically whispered in my ear. I then turned around- only to see that my nightmare that had been plaguing me had finally come true.

Behind me, on a great black horse, was Ganondorf: the man who killed the Great Deku Tree, drove the Gorons to near starvation, and made Jabu-Jabu ill. I suddenly realized why Link and Impa left the castle- something went wrong.

And now, I was all alone with this wretched man. To me, he was a great warrior on a horse, but he also looked ominous as he towered over me. I suddenly felt weak and inferior, compared to him, even if I fought monsters twice his size.

A curse of great annoyance escaped Ganondorf as he stared out at the field. It was then that he noticed me out of the corner of his eye and looked down. "You, over there! Little kid! You must have seen the white horse gallop past just now..."

I couldn't answer. I didn't know what to do- fear froze me in place. Even Ivan seemed to fall to silence in the presence of this man as my companion flew to my side.

"Which way did it go?! Answer me!" He demanded and I flinched away and backed off a few steps. "Wait a minute... you're that girl I saw with the prince." He realized.

"I..." I began, but I could only stutter. "I... I- w-wont t-tell you."

"So, you think you can protect them from me..." Ganondorf calmly spoke. "You've got guts, kid."

I didn't know why, but I foolishly took my sword out. Even in the rain, I could hear my nervous breathing as I stared down the dark man, who seemed only mildly amused.

Ganondorf let out a dark chuckle. "You want a piece of me?" He laughed. "Very funny! I like your attitude!"

He held his hand up and dark magic formed, before it turned into a yellow orb which then exploded.

I let out a cry of surprise when it hit me before it turned into a cry of pain- it was like when Barinade struck me with his electricity, and I could feel the magic make my body scream out as I landed on the ground with a force so hard, that it knocked the wind out of me.

"Zelda!" Ivan flew to my side as I felt the pain in my back and I gasped for air. Every nerve felt as if it were on fire and I could only barely keep my cries held behind clenched teeth as the dark magic ate at my air depraved body.

"Pathetic little fool!"

I struggled to at least move the upper half of my body up, and I looked at Ganondorf, who now seemed like more than just a man who committed horrible acts. "Do you realize who you are dealing with?! I am Ganondorf! And soon, I _will_ rule the world!"

I could only watch as Ganondorf kicked his horse and forced the creature to go after the white horse. I was too powerless to do anything now- I didn't know what to do, or how to stop him.

The rain kept falling, and I could still hear the thunder. It was all I could hear, outside the quiet emptiness in my head, while the horrible fire in me died as quickly as it came.

"Are you ok?" Ivan finally asked.

"...Did I... fail?" I asked as I took a deep breath and felt my air completely return to my body. I should have stopped him- maybe if I acted quicker- maybe if I suddenly wasn't so afraid of him- maybe if I was more than a mere child-

I then turned to the moat. "What... did Link throw to...?" I struggled to get up.

"Don't push yourself, you're hurt!"

"I have to get it." I panted as I could only stumble to the moat. I looked into it, and saw a strange blue object.

"Just get it later!" Ivan told me, but I still tore my boots and my sword and shield off and set them aside. "Zelda, stop!"

It was too late- I took a deep breath and allowed myself to fall into the water. I swam after the blue object, even when it was uncomfortable to swim, thanks to that blast of magic. The darkness of the sky above made it hard to find it, but it seemed to be shinning in a strange brilliancy that made it easier to locate. I picked the object up and swam up to the surface, where I quickly reached the ledge and tried to force myself to push myself out as soon as I put the object inside my vest. Unfortunately, the ledge was too far for me to reach, and I barely had any strength left to keep swimming.

I continually tried to get out of the moat, before a heaviness filled my being and I finally collapsed as a strange whiteness filled my mind.

-?-

" _Hey, Zelda? Can you hear me? It's Link."_

" _Listen- if you are holding this Ocarina in your hand, then it means that something has happened. I wanted to wait- I wanted to join you at the Temple of Time and see what lies behind the Door of Time with you. Whatever happened, I'm really sorry. You have to continue this without me."_

" _Listen to this melody- the Song of Time. Play this melody at the alter in the Temple. Everything is up to you now..."_

-present-

"Girl! Please wake up!"

I took a sharp breath of air and found myself staring up into the rain filled sky, along with a few housetops. I was somewhat wet from swimming in the moat, but someone managed to put a blanket around me and I felt slightly drier, which meant that a certain amount of time had passed for me.

"Zelda! Thank Farore!" I heard Ivan and I turned my head to see that he that he was flying right beside me. "I thought you were going to drown!"

"She's going to be safe." The first voice spoke. I turned my head to see a castle guard sitting beside me. He looked unusually pale but there was a ghost of a smile on his lips.

"He just saved your life!" Ivan told me. "I went to find help, and he fished you out of the water, even though he was seriously injured."

"What?" I looked at the guard in confusion.

"Ganondorf betrayed our Queen." He told me. "Lady Impa sensed great danger and took the prince away. I tried to stop Ganondorf's men from chasing them... but..."

"No, why did you save me, if you were injured?" I asked.

"Your life is more important." The Guard spoke. "If you died-" He let out a deep wheeze and closed his eyes tightly before opening them again.

"The...Ocarina..." The guard struggled to stay awake. "Did you... get it?"

"Yes." I grabbed the guard's hand as I reached in my vest and pulled the Ocarina of Time out for him to see. "You should go get help! There's still time!"

"It... it's too late." He shook his head and smiled as his voice slowed down. "Go to... the... Tem...ple ...of Ti..."

Then, before my eyes, the guard slumped against the fall and his grip in my hand loosened until his hand slipped out and hit the ground. "Sir?" I asked as I grabbed his shoulder. He didn't respond to my touch- he felt as still as a rock.

"...He's not moving anymore." I quietly spoke.

My hand dropped to my side as I looked at the guard in silent horror- another person died, because of Ganondorf. I barely knew this man, and yet he did so much for me in his final moments.

I looked into the sky as the rain continued to fall. The tears that came out of my eyes merged with them, as I quietly cried.

I was just a kid. I had seen more deaths than any child ever should, and I had taken many more, just to make sure this world was safe. Within four days, I had seen two important people die in front of me- one being that of my father- and I lost the comfort of the companionship of those in the Castle.

Everything was all up to me, but I wasn't sure if I could do it anymore.

"Come on Zelda." Ivan tried to encourage me. "Don't let this man's death be in vain: we have to keep going for people like him." That was all I needed to remember my mission and find my courage again.

I finally nodded and grabbed my belongings, which were right beside the guard. As I got up and used the blanket to protect myself from the rain, I looked at him for one last time.

"I don't know who you are or your name is... but thank you." I spoke.

And so, I turned and began my journey to the temple.

-later-

The rain finally stopped when I entered the main part of town, and I could see some people still out on the streets. Some were confused as to what happened, and others were in a panic over what happened at the castle.

I only stopped to tell the guards that stood by the entrance of the castle to tell them that their companion had died, and one of them hurried to the alleyway when I said where he could find the body.

I finally approached the Temple of Time- a building that still filled me in awe, and I felt a slight reassurance when I saw it, even though Link wasn't with us.

"Ready, Zelda?" Ivan asked. I nodded.

"No matter what happens, I'll always stay by your side." Ivan promised. I finally smiled as I walked up the steps and into the temple. "I-I appreciate that." I told him.

The inside of the temple felt enormous when I came inside. It seemed to be built entirely of gray, black, and white stone, with the exception of a red carpet and I could see a black Triforce high above the wall and a great door on the other side.

I remained silent as I slowly stepped in and looked around my surroundings. For one moment, it seemed as if time didn't matter anymore- there was no evil outside these walls, and I even felt safe. I dropped the blanket to the ground when I saw the alter, and walked towards it.

"This place is incredible." Ivan was also in awe. "I wonder..." He let out a mischevious giggle and yelled out "HEY!" which echoed all around us. I could only smile, as I didn't feel ready to join Ivan in this fun just yet. Not until we finished this for good.

When we finally reached the alter, I read it's inscription. "Ye who owns three Spiritual Stones. Stand with the Ocarina of Time and play the Song of Time."

I took out the Ocarina of Time and looked at it. The blue stone was carved so perfectly, and a gold band with the Triforce etched on it rested around the mouthpiece. A lot of care was put into such an instrument, and yet I felt that there was something magical about it.

"Here we go." I took a deep breath and played the melody as exactly how Link played it. A timeless song came out of the ocarina, and it felt as if it was enveloping us and taking us back to an era long since passed away.

As soon as the final note died, I felt something warm from my pouch and the Spiritual Stones that I had gathered rose out before me. I lowered the Ocarina from my mouth as the stones circled around me, as if they were dancing, before they finally became perfectly aligned and placed themselves onto the pedestal.

Above the Door of Time, the mark of the Triforce glowed with a warm yellow and the door parted from the middle and moved into the walls to reveal a hidden chamber.

"This is it." Ivan gulped. "The Sacred Realm is probably beyond that door."

"Yeah." I agreed and put the Ocarina away, before I walked around the alter, headed up the stairs, and past the Door of Time.

To my surprise, there was a huge room, with some sort of platform and a set of stairs lead up to what was on top of it. An almost unnatural light from the window across from us illuminated what was in front of us: it was not the Triforce, but a sword.

"Hey, Zelda." Ivan realized. "Isn't that..." He flew over to the object. "It's the sword from that painting and the legends!" He gasped. "This must be the legendary Master Sword!"

"Master Sword?" I curiously asked, as I walked forward.

"It's said to be a sword so powerful, that someone evil of heart can't lay a hand on it. It's why they also call it the Blade of Evil's Bane." Ivan told me. "There's been so many stories about how this blade came to be, that I don't know which one's the real one."

I walked up the steps and finally stood in front of it: the blade was large enough that I was just barely taller than it.

"It's so pretty." I murmured as I examined it's design: a maroon colored guard and tip, with a black and white diamond handle, the symbol of the Triforce upon the blade itself. I saw the yellow diamond in the guard and noticed two entwined pieces of metal surrounding it: one was kind of pink, and the other was green.

I felt drawn to this last detail for some reason and traced a finger around the entwined green and pink metal. "I wonder who made this." I spoke. "This part seems to clash with the rest of the design. It makes it look like it was made for a girl, and not a hero." I felt myself smiling a little more at such a funny thought.

"Why not pull it out?" Ivan asked. "Maybe this is supposed to be the final key, or something."

I grabbed the handle of the Master Sword, but I hesitated.

When I held the sword, it felt right in my hands, like I was supposed to have it. Like I _always_ had it. I knew what I had to do, but something inside was screaming at me not to do this. Why shouldn't I do this? I had to, if I needed to stop the evil that continued to spread across the land.

"If this makes me stronger, I might be able to defeat Ganondorf." I spoke out loud as I stood on the pedestal and both my hands were placed upon the handle. I looked at the sacred blade and then, as if I felt that it could listen to me, I pleaded "Please Master Sword- give me your power, so I can save Hyrule!"

I gave the blade a firm tug and it easily slid out of it's pedestal for what must have been the first time in hundreds of years and it was now in both of my hands.

"You did it!" Ivan cheered. "You- what's happening?!" He's excitement changed to confusion as a wall of blue light began to form, and a light from below us grew in size.

Suddenly, everything turned white until I couldn't see the temple anymore.

I tried to yell for Ivan, but for some reason, I couldn't. I tried to move my arms but I wasn't able to- I remained frozen, holding the sword out in front of me.

That's when I heard a now familiar ringing of deep, triumphant laughter. "Excellent work! As I thought, you hold the keys to the Door of Time!"

 _No! But how did he-?!_ My heart sank as my mind raced in panic.

"You have lead me to the gates of the Sacred Realm." I could feel his presence. I could feel him standing- towering behind me like a great giant. I tried to struggle, but I couldn't move: I was now entirely helpless.

"Yes, I owe it all to you, kid!" He let out a deep laugh that seemed to echo throughout my surroundings, before it faded and died.

Finally, whatever froze me in place vanished and I almost fell over, had I not used the Master Sword as a crutch. Immediately, I tried to look around for Ivan but he wasn't with me. All I saw was nothing but the vast whiteness of emptiness.

"Ivan?" I called out.

No answer.

"Ivan?!" I tried again. "IVAN?!" I yelled as fear entered my heart and I ran ahead as my voice echoed around me. "Ivan, please answer me!" I pleaded as I felt sick to my stomach. "Are you ok?!"

I would face another monster- I would face Mido's taunts- I would face a big drop into the great darkness just to escape this void and see Ivan again.

"IVAN!" I yelled as I dropped the Master Sword, which clattered to my side and I ran forward. "WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Nothing.

"Someone, please answer me!" I wanted someone- _anyone_ to come to me. I didn't want to be alone, and I was getting scared with each passing second. "Saria?!" I helplessly cried out as tears filled my eyes. "Darunia?!"

"RUTO?!" I yelled. "MALON, ARE YOU THERE?! LADY IMPA?! LINK?! ANSWER MEEEEE!" I screamed.

But no one was there to hear me.

No one would listen.

I was all alone.

"...I..." My tears ran down my face. I collapsed to the ground and curled into a ball as my tears kept falling. "Don't... don't leave me." I desperately pleaded as my fear grew. "I don't want to be alone... Someone..." I sobbed as all my courage left me.

"Anyone... please don't let me be alone."

"But you never will be." A voice suddenly rang out.

I felt someone's hand slowly run down my head, through my hair, and suddenly they picked me up off the ground and held me close to them.

I was so desperate for companionship that I took comfort in this sudden miracle as that dark hole of despair began to diminish and yet...

"W-who are you?" I cautiously asked.

"Shh." The voice- a man's voice- hushed me as he stroked my hair. "I'm someone you can trust, my forest child." His voice was almost melodic and soothing to my ears. He held me close to him, as if he didn't want to let go of me.

"A long time ago- before this kingdom became a kingdom, I made the greatest promise of my existence." I finally calmed down as I took in this wondrous comfort. This was what I wanted- what I desired awhile ago. I had wanted to be cradled this way- he held me as if I was the whole world, and I felt that I was safe in his presence as I felt him settle me into his lap when he sat down on the ground. "I would prove that I was there to those who I must answer to. I heard your cries: there is no longer any need to feel afraid."

"Th-that doesn't answer my question." I pointed out as I closed my eyes. Why did this feel familiar to me? Why did he sound familiar to me, like from a long forgotten dream? "Who are you? And where is Ivan?"

There was a pause.

"I-" The voice sounded so sure, and yet it then sounded sad, as if it was expecting a different answer. "I can be everything and anything you want me to be, my forest child. I am father, brother, protector, companion- though that charming fairy of yours already took that last position."

I giggled, despite myself.

"Good- that's what I wanted to hear from you." The man sounded pleased. "And don't worry- he is safe by your side, in a place where the darkness won't touch you."

"Now rest, my forest child. I wish that you waited a little longer before pulling me out, but I can make it up to you and give you the most wonderful dreams as you enter your sleep."

"What?" I asked in confusion, and tried to turn to see who was speaking to me, but his hold on me tightened and I felt a strange fogginess in my head.

"I know what you've been through- I could see your memories, the moment you touched the handle of my blade. You've done far too much for someone of your age, and yet I am proud of you, as a father would be proud of his daughter."

"...Y-you promise you won't leave me?" I asked.

"I promised I would be there for you..." The voice assured me, as I felt myself being pulled into a deep sleep. "So rest, my dear Zelda... my brave Mistress... rest, until it's time for you to wield me."

Just before my mind gave into the darkness, I heard him say one more thing.

" _As long as I am with you, you will accomplish your destiny, and seek out your desires. I will make sure of that. As long as I am with you, you will be able to face your fears."_

-?-

In the temple of light, a small girl was resting in a deep sleep, with her fairy companion by her side.

The lone sage of the temple watched as the girl held the Master Sword close to her, like a child would hold onto it's mother or father.

-Hyrule Castle-

In the once grand throne room, bodies of the dead were scattered as their blood stained the once noble floors. All that remained were a small handful of Gerudos and a dethroned queen.

The once proud queen was forced into a kneeling position by the blades of the daughters of the desert. Her blonde hair was now a wild mess and she looked as if she had aged well beyond her years. Hollow eyes glanced up to the Gerudo who held the limp form of the dragon her son cherished- she feared the worst for the poor creature, whose life had been spared.

There was a loud 'BANG!' and she looked to see the man she thought she could trust storm his way towards her, over the bodies of the slain without any remorse.

"What is the meaning of this?!" He demanded as he held his hand up for her to see.

The queen stared at his hand... before she let out a crazed laugh as her head tilted to the ceiling, before crashing down to her chest.

"You find this amusing?!" Ganondorf demanded.

"It tells me everything." The queen managed to grin as she calmed down. "You will never be fit for my throne, let alone the world itself."

With an animalistic snarl, Ganondorf grabbed a scimitar from a Gerudo, grabbed the queen's hair, and held the blade to her neck.

"I'll deliver your son to my feet!" He told the queen. "I will show all of Hyrule the head that was once attached to your neck! He will desire revenge and come for me!"

"Even if he should feel the urge, his heart is stronger than you think." The queen smiled as she thought of Link- if only she believed in him sooner. "He was raised better than that. He will be a far better king than you ever will be." She added as the thought of her son, her husband and the land she grew up in for as long as she could remember. It gave her courage to face her death.

Ganondorf gave the woman a dark glare, before his mouth grew to a grim smile of sadistic pleasure.

"Too long, you have held your land of green from me." He spoke. "The wind of death that once blew though the desert now blows through you."

And with barely any effort, the scimitar cut through it's prey.

-?-

" _It's time for you to awaken."_

"Wake up..."

" _Remember all I said, my forest child."_

"Child, it is time."

For the first time in what felt like ages, I opened my eyes.

The first thing I saw was what reminded me of flowing water. I slowly looked around and found myself in some sort of blue otherworldly dimension, where columns of light pierced the darkness. It was then that I saw a strange, elderly man in ancient looking robes. He stood upon a yellow medallion- one of the six medallions that rested upon the ground around us.

"I am Rauru, one of the ancient Sages." He told me. "I was among those who built the Temple of Time to protect the entrance to the Sacred Realm."

Rauru... I then recalled the story Link told me.

"We are in the Chamber of Sages, inside the Temple of Light." Rauru continued. "It is situated in the very center of the Sacred Realm, and it is the last stronghold against Ganondorf's evil forces."

"Where am I?" I finally asked, but then I stopped when I noticed that my voice sounded deeper than it should have been and clutched my throat. "Wh-what happened to my voice?!" I asked in alarm.

"Zelda?" I turned to see Ivan flying by my side. "Y...you..." He struggled to stay, as if he had a hard time believing it. "You... grew bigger."

"What?!" I glanced down at my body. Sure enough, I was not only further away from the floor, but I was dressed differently. I looked more suitable for fighting, and I even wore gauntlets on my arms. I even put my hand behind my back and felt that my hair was almost waist length, and I was carrying a bigger shield and a bigger sword behind my back.

"I...I'm an adult?" I looked up at Rauru for clarification. "But why?"

"The Master Sword was the final key to the Sacred Realm, but only one worthy of the title of the Hero of Time could pull it from the Pedestal of Time." Rauru explained before he added with slight guilt. "However, you were too young to be the Hero. Therefore, your spirit was sealed here for seven years."

I let out a sharp gasp and put my hand to my mouth. "No way..." I shook my head. "It can't be! What happened when I was gone?! Did Ganondorf acquire the Triforce?!"

"Unfortunately, when you were sealed away, Ganondorf was able to gain the Triforce." Rauru told me. "His evil power radiated from the temples of Hyrule, and transformed this land into a world of monsters. He is now known to all of Hyrule as the King of Evil."

"I should never have entered the Temple of Time." I shook my head. "If I knew everything, I wouldn't have touched the Master Sword. I _felt_ that it was wrong!"

"But there's still a chance to fix this, isn't there, Master Rauru?" Ivan asked. "Now that Zelda is here, and she has the Master Sword, there's no way we can lose!"

"There is a problem." Rauru told him. "This temple was barely effected by Ganondorf, and yet my power is not enough to aide you. Should you find the remaining five sages, destined to carry on the legacy of my brethren, we may still seal away the dark power of Ganondorf in the void of the Realm."

I finally let go of my face as I came to a new resolve. "So, I can still defeat him." I spoke.

"If the Master Sword allowed you to pull it from the pedestal, you are not only the Hero of Time, but you have the courage and strength necessary to accomplish the tasks ahead of you." Rauru told me. "And as the Sage of Light, you have my power added to yours. Keep my spirit with you, and find the power of the others Sages and add their might to your own!"

"Rauru." I spoke. "I am sorry for my actions. I promise I will make it up to you and the rest of this Kingdom."

Rauru shook his head. "Child, there is no need to feel guilt for your actions. It is better that you can see the light and find the strength to continue on. To push onward, in face of hardship, and to be able to find joy between those difficult times- that is what makes you special. Remember that."

There was a slight ringing, and everything turned white, until I couldn't see Rauru anymore.

" _Find the other Sages and save Hyrule!"_

 _-_ temple of time _-_

I opened my eyes to find myself in the familiar chamber that once housed the Master Sword.

"I... I guess we're back." I finally spoke as I touched my throat again. "I am not going to get used this." I shook my head. "My voice, my height- what else has changed?"

"It's... it's not bad." Ivan told me in a rather quiet and almost shy like manner, which was completely unlike him. "If we find a mirror, you'll know what I mean."

"So, did I become ugly as an adult?" I asked as I tried to touch my face and judge it's appearance: it felt a little more bony.

"Well, well!" A male voice suddenly, giddily rang out and echoed in the otherwise quiet chamber. "Looks like the princess finally awoke from her deep slumber!"

On instinct, I grabbed the handle of my sword- the Master Sword- and turned around to face the intruder.

* * *

If you've been reading Hyrule Warriors Warped, then you already know who Zelda's about to meet. (I'm debating on using the name I've been using for that fanfic, or using the other one he's known for.) If not, I think you guys might like the irony of the identity of our mystery man.

Man, Zelda had some severe guilt problems as an adult in the game, but we are going to fix that- it looks like she's going to have much to look forward to, this time around. *giggles mischievously*

I hated coming up with a good opening for this chapter, because of how ambiguous it was in the game. However, I'm happy that I was able to incorporate the often missed soldier from the back alley, just before you go into the Temple of Time. The moment I played through it was such a shock, and I wanted to pay tribute to him.

Also: recognize the dialogue from a key scene, longtime readers? You knew _that_ moment was going to happen in this fic. I'm _really_ going to have to outdo myself for Hyrule Warriors Warped when I cross this bridge again.


	6. Seven years later

Sorry for taking so long, what with HWW, the fact that I've been attending other projects, and that I got to see Matilda the Musical which was soooooo awesome! I ended up crying while watching it and I could go on and on about the experience.

I have to warn you guys that things are going to get to a point where I will have to post chapters monthly. The next chapter will be sometime in August, but in the meantime...

 **AMaeJay** : Is Ponyo your favorite Miyazaki movie? Mine's Howl's Moving Castle. I'd say that I'm on Ghirahim's team, even though Zant had more depth in terms of backstory and even less vagueness around it.

 **ZeldatheWarriorPrincess** : hmm... let's see what happens in this chapter.

 **Phoenix Champion:** I really love your reaction. Unfortunately (fortunately?) I estimate that we wont get to the Fire Temple until sometime in September, so...

I'm glad you guys enjoyed the last chapter, as well as the long awaited return of you-know-who. That was one of my biggest reasons to write this fan-fic... speaking of you-know-whos...

I kind of imagine Zelda's outfit as an adult to be similar to her princess dress, but shorter, without those gold-arm things, or the tiara.

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Seven years later**

With the Master Sword in my hand, I turned to face the intruder behind me-

-but there was nothing behind me.

"Right behind you." My voice suddenly spoke out without me moving my mouth.

I turned to see a blonde young woman, who was dressed an awful lot like me- until I realized that it _was_ supposed to be me. It was me as an adult, and the form caught me off guard, more than that there was a third person with us.

"Not bad, isn't it?" My mirror asked with a grin as she crossed her arms together.

"Is... that what I look like?" I examined the mirror version. The clothes almost resembled what I had as a child, but the shirt under the pink shirt was shaped differently (with a collar that reached a little above the base of my neck), and I wore leggings under the white skirt. I also noticed that the arms and legs looked a lot more curvy than they used to be and my face wasn't as chubby.

"Wow- I'm really pretty as an adult!" I grinned as my duplicate snickered. Without warning, the duplicate turned black and shrank in size until it turned into Ivan.

"Yeah, I can be quite the copy cat." The Ivan duplicate turned to Ivan as he spoke in his voice.

"Uh... are we dreaming, or did I accidentally ingest something?" Ivan turned to me.

"I can be anything you want me to be." The duplicate spoke as he turned dark and then morphed into a black dog. "Be it animal-" The dog turned into a stalchild. "-monster-" the Stalchild turned into a village child. "Or human." The child then grinned as he put a thoughtful finger to his chin. "Although- I wonder if you would like something a bit more to your preference?"

The child then shifted and morphed until he became a tan- almost grey skinned young Hylian man with purplish black hair. He wore a black tunic over a gray long sleeved shirt and tights, and he wore dark gauntlets, though what caught my attention was that the cap he wore reminded me of the one I used to own- except it was black- and there was a strange black, blue, and gold framed mirror that hung from the belt around his waist.

...That and he was surprisingly handsome. My heart stopped the second I saw his face, and as he opened his deep red eyes, he saw me staring.

"Ah, I see this form does please you." The unusual man stepped forward and took my hand. "It's good to see you awake, princess." He took it to his mouth and kissed it.

My heart stopped again. I should not find this guy handsome, and yet I couldn't stop blushing at his deed. I don't know if he knew that I was basically a kid in a grown-up's body, but a part of me liked this act for some reason.

"Whoah, whoah, back off, buddy!" Ivan darted by my shoulder as the man let go of my hand and raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Who the heck are you?!"

The man hummed and crossed his arms to his chest. "Hmm- was it Dark? Or was it Shadow? Dark sounded good, but I like using Shadow-" He clapped his hands together. "Well- looks like you guys are calling me Shadow from now on. Unless you like Dark, but I don't give a-"

"And?" Ivan pressed. "How do we know you don't work for Ganondorf?"

Shadow scowled with a sudden fury in his eyes. "That old man can suck it." He then innocently smiled at me as if nothing happened. "I'm an ally, whose personal mission is to assist you in any way. I take it that the Sage of Light told you where to find the other sages, correct?"

"Uh..." I recalled the conversation. "N- not really."

Shadow huffed and rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Figures the old man wouldn't give you the finer details- y'all needed me after all." He then looked at me. "Zelda, wasn't it? Annnnnnd... Ivan?"

He then turned to walk up the steps, though he seemed to take extra care to avoid the light from the window above as he casually spoke. "Those chosen to be Sages will hear the call of destiny in their respective temples. One is in a deep forest." He threw one arm out. "Another is on a high mountain." He threw out the other one and paused.

"One under a vast lake." He suddenly spun on the heel of his boot and grinned before vanishing back into that strange dark shapeless magic and swiftly circled behind me.

"One within the house of the dead." He spoke and I quickly turned around- only to see that he wasn't there. Just at that moment, I felt my sword raise up on it's own and I glanced back.

"And finally-" Shadow held the sword tip of the Master Sword up with his finger as he examined it, before he made both index and middle finger walk down the edge of the blade and towards the hilt as he walked towards me. "-one is inside a goddess of the sand."

Just as his fingers came to the hilt, he paused and looked me in the eye. "Together with the Hero of Time, the awakened ones will bind the evil and return the light of peace to the world. That's the legend of the temples passed down by the Sheikah."

"You do look a lot like the legendary Hero of Time, you know." Shadow held his arms out and stepped away from me as he gave me a big grin. "What with finally pulling the mythical Master Sword out and all- the thing must have been in there for centuries."

"So, what you're saying..." I began. "Is that I have to go to those temples and awaken the sages?"

"Yup." Shadow nodded. "And the Sage of the Forest Temple is someone you know- of course, thanks to a certain 'dark and mighty' pain in the butt and the evil power that's polluting the temple, she can't hear the awakening call from the Sacred Realm."

"So we have to go back to the forest." I realized- after seven years, I would be back in the Kokiri forest.

"Ah- not so fast!" Shadow held a finger up. "You aren't properly equipped yet. You need a certain something to get in the temple, and time is ticking, Hero of Time."

I watched as he then moved his hand towards his mirror. To my amazement, his hand went through the mirror and he moved his arm as if searching for something, before he pulled out a wallet filled with rupees.

"Talk to the grave keeper at Kakariko Village and tell him to open the grave- he'll know what I mean. Also, you'll need this later." Shadow tossed me the wallet with I quickly caught. "Once you get to the temple I'll meet you there."

"Why can't you come with us?" I asked.

Shadow glanced to the window for a few seconds. "...Let's just say that I'd get in your way. Plus, it would look suspicious if I was always with you. I can't risk it." He turned his head back. "In case you didn't know, I'm a shadow being with lots of power, and certain limitations. I think ol' Ganon-pork would want his hands on me if he knew." His mirth was then replaced with genuine concern.

"Also- get the heck out of the town as fast as you can. Whatever you do, don't stop, and head to Kakariko."

"And how can we trust you?" Ivan demanded.

"That's the thing." Shadow wagged a finger at him. "You shouldn't trust me."

"What does that mean?!"

"Come on Ivan, let's go." I pocketed the wallet and put my sword away. "And Shadow." I looked up to the strange being. "Thank you."

Shadow grinned and waved. "Anytime, princess."

I turned and hurried out of the temple.

"'You shouldn't trust me' he says." Ivan huffed. "Uh- yeah, I don't."

"Ivan!" I hissed.

"We barely know anything about him!" He told me as we headed to the exit. "And did you find it odd that the form he chose looks a little famil-"

It was at this point that I left the temple and a sight so devastating met my eyes and I cut Ivan off with a gasp of horror.

The beautiful, lively town was abandoned. All the buildings were worn, withered, or destroyed, and all the plants were dead or dying. Gone was the blue sky, and gone was the music and chatter- the sky was dark as night, and all I could hear was a roaring wind and a strange moaning in the distance.

Ivan fell to silence as we quietly walked out of the temple and took in the result of seven years that had passed before us. When I looked up into the sky, I saw that a strange fire like cloud was wrapped around the top of Death Mountain.

"...Ivan, I'm really scared." I glanced towards the path to the market. "I'm afraid to see what's changed."

"Me too." He admitted. "What's that moaning sound?"

The answer came as soon as we hurried into the market. Gone were the people- instead, there were strange withered looking brown humanoid creatures. They were the cause for the moaning, and I suddenly felt my blood freeze.

"Ivan...what are they?"

"Re-deads." Ivan shivered. "They will freeze you in place with their screaming if you get too close. They are slow, but they are known to be incredibly dangerous."

"Get in my shirt." I pulled the front shirt open. "I'm going to run for it."

Ivan went in my shirt, and as soon as I get go of it, I looked at the market to figure out an escape and try to see where the re-deads were, before I bursted into a sprint.

I ran towards the fountain, and I could hear the moans growing louder. As I ran around the fountain, I could hear a faint screaming, but I gasped for air and pushed myself to race out towards the entrance to the town.

-Hyrule Field-

To my relief, Hyrule Field still looked the same, but it was still unsettling to see that the bridge had been destroyed and was laying in the moat.

"I hope everyone made it out ok." I glanced back to the empty city one more time before I made my way east. "Everything seemed alright just a awhile ago."

"Depending on what 'awhile' is to us." Ivan quietly spoke. "For everyone we know, it's been seven years."

"I hope they'll recognize us." I confessed.

As I walked to Kakariko Village, I couldn't stop looking at just how different my body had changed. "The height and the voice is one thing, but it's like everything is shaped differently." I began as my placed my hands on my stomach and ran them up- only to realize that there was something else that changed.

"Uh- hey Ivan?" I nervously asked. "Do women get fat in the chest area?"

"Uh... I have a theory, but I don't think now is the time to-"

"Do you think I could go into someone's house and barrow a mirror? I really need to take another look at myself." I also confessed with a blush. Did I get vain as an adult?

Eventually, we came into Kakariko Village. The place looked almost unchanged, but I could see that there were a lot more people who lived there and some of them were recognizable as the townsfolk from seven years ago. However, even though it seemed that the village expanded, there was a stillness that replaced the humble liveliness from before.

"Man, that tree used to be skinny and now look at it!" Ivan pointed out a huge tree by the entrance of the town- it's trunk was wider than it used to be and two men from town were arguing under it.

"I really need to use a bathroom." I complained as I walked to the nearest house and knocked on the door.

"That's the first thing on your mind?"

"Consider it a habit after waking up in the morning." I hinted to Ivan as the door was opened by a heavyset woman. "May I help you?" She asked.

"Uh-" My eyes glanced to her chest and noticed how large they were, in comparison to mine and assumed that perhaps she got fat in that area too, before I finally spoke. "I... have been traveling and I need to use a bathroom."

"Come on in, dear." She moved to the side. "It's down the hall."

As I entered, I noticed a familiar face snoring on a bed. "Isn't that Talon?" I wondered, but I went on ahead, with Ivan staying behind.

I finally entered the bathroom but I took another look in the mirror- the person may as well have been a stranger to me, but I could still see myself in her face. I don't know if I could ever get used to the drastic change, even though I did look really pretty.

My hands went to my chest again and I couldn't help but wonder what also changed. I could feel something under the two layers of clothing that was holding up whatever happened to my chest. Maybe it was holding the fat up.

However, that had to wait for a moment- I really had to use the bathroom. Seven years was long enough to hold whatever was left inside my body, and nature was calling like a bell in the dead of night.

-Ivan's POV-

I quietly looked around the room as I waited.

Man, seven years is quite an... experience. It made me wonder what happened to Sunny, or that cute girl from the ranch.

"WHAT THE HECK?! WHEN DID I GET _THAT_?!"

I turned when I heard Zelda's astonished yelp and flew towards the door. "Zelda?" I asked in concern. "Are you ok?"

There was a whimper and I could have sworn I heard "It's everywhere" in it.

"Do you need the lady?" I asked as I turned to the woman in the house.

"...Uh...M-maybe." Was the embarrassed response. "I... think?"

-Later (Zelda's POV)-

Well... apparently there was a _lot_ more to growing up that I didn't expect. I hit something called 'puberty' and now I had to worry about something called a 'period' during my quest without knowing when it would happen. Thanks a freaking lot Master Sword for not letting me stay a kid a little longer.

"So, what about Malon's dad?" Ivan asked. "We should see if she's still around."

"I don't think he'll wake up anytime soon." I noted the deep snoring coming from Talon.

Ivan laughed. "Oh- he will. Leave it to me." He then flew to Talon, took a deep breath and let out one word as loud as he could:

"HEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYY!"

"WHAT THE-?!" Talon jolted off the bed. "I'M SORRY! I PROMISED I'D LET THE HORSES OUT EARLY!" He looked around in alarm as Ivan snickered and flew towards me.

"Mr. Talon?" I asked. "Do you remember me? I'm an old friend of Malon's. You let me stay a couple of nights at the ranch."

Talon finally calmed down and turned to me. "Oh! Yes, I remember! The young missy with her fairy!"

"How is Malon?" I asked. To this, the kind, but sleepy man's face suddenly fell.

"I was kicked out of my own ranch by my ranch hand." He began as he glanced down and tightened his grip on the edge of the bed. "He was given the power to do so, and now my daughter is still at the ranch while he's doing who-knows-what." His voice tightened. "I... really don't know what to do, and I want to get Malon out of there. Farore knows what has happened to her, or the animals."

A pang of fear hit me as I took this in consideration. "Talon." I spoke. "I have business to attend here, but I promise to check on Malon as soon as I can."

"You'd do that?" Talon asked as I detected some hope in his voice. "I'd appreciate that, dear."

-UPHPHPIHIJRANDOMWORDSUHIHIP-

Wishing to keep my promise, I hurried to the graveyard, but I couldn't find the grave keeper.

"It's that creepy guy, isn't it?" Ivan's voice trembled. "I hate this place- it gives me a bad feeling."

I found a shack by the entrance, and when I knocked on the door, a young man with a wooden monster mask answered it. "Can I help-" he began, but the second he saw me, he paused and took his mask off. I realized he looked familiar, but I noticed that seemed a little flushed for some reason.

"Are you the grave keeper?" I asked. "I was told to tell you that it's time to 'open the grave.'"

The man suddenly snapped out of his stupor at my words. "It is?" He asked as he walked out and put the mask back on. He headed towards the graveyard, and I followed him.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"Dampe was the last grave keeper, and he passed the position to me when he died." He spoke. "He told me that if I was told those specific words by a young woman with a fairy, I had to open up his grave."

"Wait a minute- you were that little boy who was with him!" I realized.

"I always wanted to be like him." The grave keeper proudly told me. "I even tried to imitate his walk, but my face was too cute to be scary. That's why I have the mask." He pointed at it. He then came to a headstone and grabbed the back of it. With a grunt, he pulled it backward to reveal a hole in the ground.

"Go on in." He told me. "And hey- don't be too scared if you see anything weird. This place tends to be a popular favorite with the supernatural, but I think this grave will be safe."

"I'll manage." I laughed as I jumped in the hole.

Seconds later, I found myself in a chamber under the grave.

"Ok, this is getting creepy." Ivan told me. "What could we find in some dead guy's crypt that could be of use to us? And that kid was being pretty condescending, for an attempt at flirting with you."

"What?" I asked.

"Did you see how he looked at you?" He asked me. "He took his mask off to get a good look at you!"

"I'd rather you not talk about my boy like that." An echoey voice moaned out. We both turned to see a man floating above the ground with a ring above his head and a lantern in the other.

"OH DIN!" Ivan yelled and darted behind me. "IT'S THE UGLY MAN AGAIN!"

"I... I am sorry for his behavior." I apologized, even though the man's sudden appearance startled me. "My companion get's scared pretty easily."

"That's ok, my dear." The man flicked his hand out. "I scared the pants off people when I was alive. It makes sense that I'd scare people's pants off when I'm a ghost."

"You're Dampe." I suddenly remembered again. "I was told that to come here-"

"By the Shadow fellow, right?" Dampe asked. "Yeah, I have a certain gadget that I always had. He wanted me to give it to you, since I don't need it any more. I can float whenever I want, can I? Now that I'm dead?" He let out a wheezy laugh.

"So, I can give it to you... if you humor me with a race."

"Ok?" I asked.

"Catch me if you dare." He chuckled and began to float down a tunnel. I quickly ran and followed after him, but seconds later, a fire came out of his torch and landed right in front of me.

"HEY!" I yelled as I quickly dodged it. "What gives?!"

The old man only chuckled.

"Beat that old man's pasty disheveled butt!" Ivan cheered as he floated beside me.

It was more like a game of trying to keep up and avoid getting burned by the fires he kept throwing out at me. the game gave me a chance to test my endurance as an adult, and it seemed to have improved, but I was still catching my breath by the time Dampe stopped.

Dampe laughed. "Hehehe... You were very quick to be able to keep up with me!"

"She had to run! All you do is float!" Ivan yelled as I knelt over and tried to catch my breath, though it felt like my throat was dry and on fire and my insides were hurting.

"Alright, since you humored me, I'll give you my treasure. It's called a hookshot: it's spring loaded chain will pull you to any spot where its hook sticks. Doesn't that sound cool? I'm sure it will help you." Dampe chuckled as he faded away.

"Come back if you ever want to race again!" He told me as a chest suddenly appeared in the middle of the room. "And be careful on your way back!"

"Crazy old man." Ivan muttered as I pulled opened the chest and took out the blue colored contraption.

"Well, let's get out of here." I finally spoke when I recovered enough and headed forward.

It was only after awhile that I heard a strange tune echoing in the tunnels, and when I finally escaped the tunnel, I found a large room with some sort of spinning contraption. It was when I looked to the left that I saw a man cranking a handle to a strange box and the music in question was playing from it.

"It must be the windmill." Ivan wondered. "I got to admit- that's pretty weird. I wonder if that tunnel had some sort of history."

I dropped from the ledge to the floor of the room, and quietly made my way out of the windmill, so I could begin my journey to the ranch. As much as I wanted to take a breather, I knew that Malon came first.

...Except my stomach started growling, and I was forced to make a detour to fill a stomach that had been empty for seven years. In fact, I went as far as to buy as much as I could when I was at the market place and snatched up some dried fruit, dried jerky, and water.

"All this." I plopped it all down in front of the seller before grabbing two muffins. "And these."

"That'll be twenty five rupees." I looked up to see the seller and recognized an old face.

"Aiden?" That boy from all those years ago was all grown up. Like me, he used to have a roundness about himself, but his features hardened a little and he was now almost half a foot taller than me... not to mention that he was also pretty good looking for an adult.

"Uh, have we met before?" He asked.

"It's Zelda, remember?" I reminded him. "The girl who almost drank out of the cursed well?"

Aiden chuckled but gave me an apologetic look. "A lot of people have done that, so it might take me awhile to remember you."

"I was the one with the fai-" I turned to look for Ivan, but he was missing. "Ivan?"

I gave up and turned back. "Well... it's nice to see you again." With the exception of the muffins, I gathered up my belongings and put them away.

"Well, if you ever want to talk to me, just come on by sometime." Aiden gave me a warm smile that I really liked and waved. "See you next time, Zelda."

"Bye." I gave him a wave, gathered the muffins, and walked away.

"I'm not going to be your wingman when someone flirts with you." Ivan flatly stated as he somehow reappeared beside me.

"Ivan?" I asked. When he turned to face me, I shoved the muffin at him. "Eat up."

And so, we ended up eating the muffins all the whole way to the ranch.

-up, left right (right left?)-

Nothing seemed out of place at the ranch at first. When I tried to knock at the door to Malon's house, there wasn't anyone answering, so I went into the stables.

As I suspected, I found Malon tending to the cows. Seven years later, my friend was rather beautiful as an adult and I felt a slight jealousy that her hair seemed a lot fuller and shinier than mine. Though her clothes were only slightly different, but she seemed depressed as she held a bucket in her hands and looked at the cows as if they were ghosts.

"Uh- Malon?" I asked as we approached her. The farm girl looked at me and only a few seconds passed before a weak smile formed.

"Zelda? Is that you?" She asked before her eyes drifted to my companion. "And you still have your fairy companion.

"Uhhhh-" I turned to see that Ivan looked as if he was frozen in place. "- i-it's nice to see you again, Miss Malon." He finally stammered out.

"Where have you two been all of these years?" Malon asked me.

"It's a long story." I apologized. "I saw your father in Kakariko Village. I heard what happened."

Malon sighed and her eyes dimmed. "Mr. Ingo kicked dad out of the ranch and he's using it to gain Ganondorf's favor. I stayed, because Mr. Ingo will treat the animals so badly if there isn't anyone there."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked. "I don't know what I can do, but if there's something that can be done to stop this..." I trailed off.

"Perhaps..." Malon became thoughtful before she gasped. "Epona!" She looked at me in distraught. "Mr. Ingo is planning on giving Epona to Ganondorf! I don't know what I can do to stop him! You have to help me get her from him, before something worse than death happens to her!"

I remembered the beautiful pony and I felt sick to my stomach at the idea of her being in Ganondorf's possession.

"I'll see if I can't buy her off Ingo." I recalled the wallet that Shadow gave me. "It's got to be better then nothing. Where's he at?"

Malon bit her lip. "He's out near the horses."

I walked out of the stable. "I promise I'll get her out of here!" I waved.

"What can we do with a horse?" Ivan asked. "Neither of use know how to take care of a horse! And besides- Ingo might not let her go!"

"It's better than her being Ganondorf's horse!" I retorted.

We found Ingo by the incredibly spacious coral where all the horses were free to run and get their exercise. To my amusement, the former ranch hand was wearing strange fancy looking clothing that included a strange big ruffled white thing around his neck.

"It looks like he put his own head on a plate and then wore said plate." Ivan snickered as we walked towards Ingo.

"Who are you?!" The man demanded with all the suspiciousness that he had seven years ago. I tried to think of a way to begin, and I wished I thought this out earlier.

"Uh... so I heard Ganondorf gave you the ranch after all these years." I began.

"Of course!" He huffed before continuing on in self pride "The great Ganondorf recognized my obvious talents and gave the ranch to me! For that, I will raise a fine horse and win recognition from the great Ganondorf!"

"So how good of a horse are you raising?" Ivan asked. "I mean, have you made sure that they are in top form and everything? If I was a..." I could mentally see him carefully chose the next words. "...great ruler like Ganondorf, I'd want my horse to be healthy in every sense of the word."

"Of course I've been raising them in top form!" Ingo snapped at Ivan before he turned to me and rubbed his hands. "Say... young lady. Perhaps you would like to ride one of the horses to see that I am right? It's only for ten rupees."

I immediately pulled out two blue rupees and handed them over. "Sure."

"Go on in- you only got a minute, so make it count!" He moved to the side.

Immediately I ran in and took my ocarina out. "Ok, here we go." I recalled the song and played it as I ran out towards the center.

I heard a neighing and to my delight, I saw a familiar rust colored horse gallop towards me.

"Remember me?" I asked as I petted Epona's nose. The pony had grown into a beautiful mare and not only did she look healthy, but she was already saddled up for a rider. Epona happily butted her head into me and I giggled. "You do remember me!"

I got up on her as Ivan asked me. "Do you remember how to ride her?"

"Of course! Malon taught me, and I even leapt over those fences." I pointed to the fences set up that horses could jump over. I gave Epona a careful kick to get her going, and I allowed myself to test her out. True to my belief, Epona was still fast and agile enough to leap over those fences.

"She rides like the wind!" I told Ingo as I rode Epona towards him.

"You really want to test her out?" Ingo smugly asked. "How about a little race with me? One lap around the corral with that horse. Want to wager, say, fifty rupess?"

Whatever I do now, I had to be careful. Epona's safety was in my hands, so if I played with this for awhile, Ingo might give her to me. "Of course." I agreed and took out the proper amount from the wallet.

Ingo snickered as he went to another horse that was saddled up and Ivan flew towards me. "He's probably ridden the horses longer than you have."

"If what Malon says is true, then I think I can win." I replied. "Especially considering who he wants to give this horse to."

A minute later, Ingo and I were lined side by side, and Malon and Ivan were off watching from a distance.

"On your mark!" Ivan yelled. "GO!"

Ingo hollered as he raised his hand up and was about to hit his horse, when I beat him to hit.

"HEYAH!" Epona and I squeezed past Ingo and we were in the lead. I could hear Ingo cry out and hit his horse, but I smacked Epona again and made her go faster.

"Six carrots, six carrots." I chanted the tip Malon told me: six carrots meant six times I could hit Epona to make her fast before she slowed down from exhaustion. I made Epona go fast twice before I waited and listened for Ingo to come closer towards me.

"HEYAH!" I heard him coming.

"HEYAH!" He yelled back.

I hit Epona again: two carrots left. I needed her to recharge her stamina.

By then, we were halfway around the corral, but I was well ahead. Ingo managed to squeeze past me, but he hit his horse too many times by then, and when they slowed down, I hit Epona again.

I mentally counted in my head and when I could envision that the carrots recharged, I smacked Epona straight to the finish line.

"YES!" I cheered as I skidded Epona to a stop. Ingo let out an unpleasant noise as his horse skidded to a stop and grabbed at his head. He began tossing himself around in a great tantrum.

"Shooooot!" He yelled. "If the great Ganondorf found out about this humiliation-!"

"So, if we beat the breeder of the horse, then that means she's not good enough for Ganondorf?" Ivan asked. "It sounds like your making a big gamble on her."

As if it did a trick on his mind, Ingo then let go of himself an calmed down. "Hey, you!" He demanded. How about another race? If you win..." He grumbled in reluctant annoyance. "You... you can keep the horse!"

This was better than I anticipated. "Of course." I replied. "I was considering to buy her anyway."

Now as much as you want to hear about what happened, this was all I could say: Ingo tired even harder to beat me, but he ran his poor horse down faster than he should have. I pretty much won within mere moments, while he was left in the dust.

"You did it!" Malon cheered as I galloped Epona towards them.

"I was a little nervous." I admitted as Ivan flew beside me. "My heart was beating really fast!"

"Uh-oh." Malon suddenly frowned and quickly took a small book out of her dress. "Here, this is how to care for Epona." She told me as I reached over to take it and put it away.

Ingo came stomping towards us and was spewing out curses all the way to the first set of gates. "What's up with that horse?!" He demanded. "Is that Epona?" He glared at Malon.

"...Yes." Malon quietly spoke.

"How did you tame that wild horse right under my nose?!" He demanded at me. "Did Malon teach you night after night?! I was going to present that horse to the great Ganondorf!"

"He was never Epona's true owner to begin with!" Malon finally snapped. "She belonged to the Prince of Hyrule!"

"But he ain't here, isn't he?!" Ingo leered at Malon.

"As the rightful heir and owner of this ranch in the event of my father's absence, I have the right to give Epona to a new owner, in the event that the old owner no longer shows interest or is deemed unfit to ride her!" Malon crossed her arms as a flame began to burn inside her. "And I can't think of a better new owner than my friend!"

Ingo flinched, but then he chuckled and laughed in a sinister manner. "Oh, you'd want that, wouldn't you?" He turned to me. "As promised. I'll give the horse to you..." "However..." He then boasted. "I'll never let you leave this ranch!"

As if by magic, the gates suddenly closed and locked us out from Ingo and the way out of the ranch.

"Hey, what gives?!" Ivan yelled.

"This is for humiliating me!" Ingo yelled back.

"We have to leave!" I protested. "Hyrule's future is at stake!"

Ingo merely let out a "Bah!" and crossed his arms behind his back.

I felt a tug at the reigns and saw that Malon was holding onto them. She looked even more disheartened than before. "Now I really wish a prince on a white horse could come for me." She told me as she lead Epona away from Ingo and the gates.

"There's a metal fence that you can get Epona to leap over." She pointed it out for me. "Take Epona out of here and don't bring her back. She deserves better than this."

"Come with me!" I pleaded as I held my hand out. "Don't be stuck with that awful man!"

"I can't!" Malon protested. "Zelda, believe me when I say that I want to, but I can't let him take out his anger on the animals!"

"And what about you?" Ivan flew towards her and she turned to face him. "What does he do to you?"

Malon gave Ivan a weak smile. "There's nothing that man could do to me, to put myself before my friends." She cupped a hand under my companion. "It's nice that you guys care so much about me."

She looked up at me. "Zelda... take care of Epona." She turned to Ivan. "And you too, you cutie-pie." She leaned in and gave Ivan a quick kiss.

Ivan's wings went stiff as Malon drew back. "Uh...ah..." He stammered and turned a dark shade of blue. "Y-yes, Miss Malon! Y-you can count on me!" He flew beside me as I gave him an amused chuckle- it looked like my companion liked that a lot! I already had every intention to use that against him for revenge in the future.

"I'm sorry I never showed up all these years!" I told Malon as she patted Epona. "I never forgot you- you're the first friend I made, after I left the forest!"

Malon smiled. "Thank you for everything." She told me before turned back to Epona. "Good-bye, dear girl." She spoke. "I'll miss you."

I gave Epona and Malon a few seconds to part ways, before I was ready to attempt the escape from the ranch. I hated to make the two part ways and leave Malon alone with that awful man, but I had to respect Malon's wishes and keep Epona away from here.

"HEYAH!" I smacked Epona and made her gallop towards the fence. I made her go fast, so she could make the jump- so she could finally be free.

"HEYAH!" She finally leapt over the fence and soared through the air. I felt my stomach flip and I held on tight as she finally hit the ground and dashed away from the ranch as fast as she could.

"WHOOOOO!" I yelled out in joy. "FREEDOM!" I yelled as Epona skidded to a stop and reared up as she let out a neighing noise.

I turned to the ranch one last time. "See you later, Malon." I said aloud. "I promise I'll come back for you."

-Meanwhile, back at the ran... seriously?-

"Mr. Ingo."

The former ranch hand turned around to see two figures. One was a tall figure completely covered in a blue cloak, with the hood over their head- the other was-

"FATHER?!" Malon yelled in surprise from behind the closed off gates.

"Talon?!" Ingo sneered. "I thought I kicked you out of this place! You're too lazy to own this place- always snoring off, and leaving me to do all the work! Well not this time! I, Ingo, am in charge!"

Talon ignored Ingo and instead ran to the gates, to rejoin his daughter. "MALON!" He yelled as he grabbed the bars of the gates, while his daughter did the same. He then turned to Ingo with surprisingly fierce anger for one so normally mellow. "What have you done with my daughter?" He demanded.

"Mr. Ingo." A hand placed itself upon Ingo, and the man turned to see the cloaked figure. He couldn't see the man's face as the inside of the hood was pitch black, and only the eyes were visible, but they glared with a dark humor mixed with anger.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to have a word with y'all." The voice of Shadow escaped from the hood. "And let's just say that whatever Malon has to tell us, it's going to be a fair trade for what's coming to you."

* * *

I feel like I hit Shadow with a tranquilizer gun, after the last update with HWW. He's going to be like that Shadow in HWW but at the same time, not quite.

...Look, the Majora's Mask manga made a dick joke (if you read it, you know what I mean). I didn't know how to treat that moment of 'discovery' and I was going to do a joke cutaway, before I realized that it should be ok to make fun of puberty, even if puberty can suck for both genders. If anyone was grossed out or offended, I understand.

On the other hand, Malon can't join our group, due to keeping to canon, but it would have been awesome if she could. She could have her pitchfork from the manga and help beat some monster butt alongside her friend!


	7. Forest Child

I liked your guys reactions to how Zelda discovered her... developments, so to say. They were pretty amusing.

 **HeroAlexa249:** Malon was bad ass with that pitch fork, even if it didn't last. (There is/was a role reversal comic series on deviant art by someone called Anita Angelo that had Malon fight along with Zelda using a pitch fork.) I would find it funny if Shadow was actually the love/adopted/genetically cloned child of Zant and Ghirahim (despite the last joke I made about his _other_ parents.)

 **Mysteriousguy898:** I don't think this Zelda has as much 'suitors' as Link did (There's probably 5 if Shadow counts.. wait, did I just go over this with you in a PM?) The locked room would be funny for a crack chapter- especially considering the potential for a certain callback from a past crack chapter.

 **Psycofangirl:** hmmm... Only time will tell if Zelda will have a violent mood swing. (Because I don't want to go too into the cause of it.) In the end, Ivan would suffer the most because he'd have to be with her almost 24/7 (poor guy.)

My birthday is coming up soon, but guess what? A wish I had for several years is coming true as I get to see Phantom of the Opera on stage for the very first time this coming weekend as a birthday gift! :D Not only am I super excited but... well... read until the very end for a super special extra.

Chapter 7: Child of the Forest

For some reason, Epona didn't want to enter the forest, so I had to take her to a special location hidden away from would-be thieves, and I removed her saddle, so she could be comfortable. Luckily there was enough water and edible plants for her to eat (I assumed it was safe for her, after I read the book Malon gave me.), and I was able to let her be while I reentered Kokiri Woods.

"I wonder how much has changed." I spoke to Ivan. "I hope they didn't believe what Mido said about me killing the Great Deku Tree." I recalled all too well what happened on that day. After seven years had passed, would they all forgive me, or would they still hate me?

Ivan let out a groan. "You know, I was hoping I'd never get to see him again. Especially Bark- I hate his guts like you wouldn't believe."

I was about to laugh as we entered the village, but to my surprise, a Deku baba shot out of the ground and lunged at us.

"Gah!" I reacted upon instinct and cut the plant down with the Master Sword. Even as it fell back and died, I glanced up in alarm and saw something terrible. "Ivan, there's Deku plants everywhere!" I could see the familiar baba plants and the shrubs that Deku scrubs hid under.

"How did everything get like this?" Ivan was stunned.

"Maybe Saria will know!" I told him as I hurried to my friend's house and dodged the monsters. I didn't even think about what Saria would say if she saw me after seven years without stopping by to say 'hello.'

When I came into Saria's house, I didn't see Saria, but I did see a Kokiri girl and her fairy. "Ah!" The girl was startled at me, but then she relaxed. "You scared me miss!"

I was about to ask the girl where Saria was, until I realized she looked familiar. "Is... is your name Lorah?" I asked. "And isn't your fairy named Violet?"

"Yes!" Lorah beamed.

"Hi, how are you and how do you know our names?!" Violet asked with the hyperactive speech that I remembered.

Wait a minute... this couldn't be right. Seven years had gone by, and I had aged, so why hadn't Lorah?

"Why... why aren't you grown up like I am?" I asked Lorah.

"Because Kokiris are forever children!" Lorah told me. "Don't you know that?"

"Oh, hello, who are you?!" Violet asked as she flew to Ivan. My companion slowly flew away from Violet, like she was a wild animal.

"Do... do you recognize me?" I asked. "Lorah, it's Zelda. The girl without a fairy who was always picked on by Mido?"

"Hmm?" Lorah frowned. "We knew that same Zelda- after Mido told us she killed the Great Deku Tree, she never returned. Saria told us she left- maybe she died?"

"No!" I knelt down to Lorah's level and slammed my hands to my chest. "Lorah that was me! I'm an adult now! I came back! What happened to the forest?!"

Lorah fell silent. "I...I don't know." She admitted. "One day, the monsters showed up. Saria said that a darkness was pouring out of it... she and Sunny went to the temple in the meadow to investigate and they haven't returned since."

Aiden not recognizing me was one thing. Lorah not recognizing me was not pleasant. I grew up with this girl- why couldn't she recognize me?!

"Come on Zelda, let's go." Ivan quietly told me.

Slowly I got back up and walked out of the house. I didn't even look back.

"She didn't recognize me." I told Ivan in disbelief. "Why?"

"The Kokiri don't know what growing up is like, so you're just like any other adult to them." Ivan told me.

"But why didn't they grow up and I did?!" I asked. "If I'm a Kokiri, why did I change? Was I out of the forest too long?! Is that what happens to Kokiri who leave?!"

Ivan didn't have an answer.

Much later, I entered the lost woods. As I made my way through that familiar labyrinth, there was someone obstructing my path to one of the tunnels- a person who still held his fists on his hips and glared at me as if I were inferior to him while his fairy flew right next to him.

"Who are you?" Mido demanded as he gave me a suspicious look.

"M...Mido?" I asked in shock. Seven years later, he also had remained unchanged in every sense of the word, while here I was all grown up and he didn't even recognize me. I thought that Mido of all people would remember the person he bothered all those years ago.

"Yeah, that's me!" He grunted. "What of it?"

I considered telling him it was me, but I felt that maybe I could take advantage of it.

"I need to get to the sacred meadow." I told him. "I need to find Saria- she needs help."

"And how do you know?" Bark demanded. "Did Saria get friendly to adults like she did to that murdering weirdo?"

"She knows because she was friends with her, dumb-butt!" Ivan finally snapped as he appeared beside me (well, so much for keeping my identity a secret). "Remember me? You used to go on and on about why I wasn't partnered up with a Kokiri!"

"Ivan is that you?!" Bark seemed shocked. "What are you doing with an adult? Did you ditch your partner?!"

" _Oh my FARORE_!" Ivan yelled out in frustration. "ARE YOU GUYS _THAT_ STUPID?! WHY WOULD I BE WITH THIS ADULT IF I'M SUPPOSED TO BE WITH ZELDA?!"

"What he's trying to say-" I quickly cut in. "-is that I'm Zelda." I gave Mido a look as I put my hands to my hips. "And I remembered all those times you made fun of me and called me a tom-boy."

Mido seemed to flinch and his eyes widened, but then he shook his head. "I don't believe you! How would I know that your one of her underlings?"

"And what if I became an adult while the rest of you got to say as kids?" I demanded.

"Prove it!"

I glared at him as I reached for the Ocarina of Time in my belongings so I could play Saria's song, but when I took it out, I found the old ocarina that she gave to me.

I regret that I never played her song enough, even when I kept my word, or that I was able to come back sooner. And so, it was fitting that I would then play that wonderful song on the old ocarina for my bully to listen to and prove who I was.

Mido could only stare as I played the familiar song. I could see that he was even more surprised- he also seemed angry, and even sad.

"...You didn't come back." He finally spoke. "After all these years, I thought you left the forest for good. I... I thought Saria would like me more when you were gone, but she didn't want to be around me. She spent less time with us after I told everyone you killed our father."

"I was gone, but it wasn't entirely my choice." I confessed as I sat down so I could be at level with my old enemy. "The Great Deku Tree sent me on a mission, and I was trying to fulfill my duty. If you let me through, I can help Saria save the forest and carry out father's final wishes." I held my hand out. "Look- let's let bygones be bygones, just for one day."

"Why?" Mido demanded. "Why should I listen to you?"

"Because..." I took a deep breath. "You were a jerk to me throughout my entire life. But I understand why, and I miss those days... more than you could possibly think... so I forgive you."

Mido opened his mouth to say something, but then his eyes began to water. "W..wh- I don't understand! This isn't how a rivalry works!"

Instead, I reached out and hugged him. "It's good to see you again, Mido."

"W...w..well it's not good for me!" Mido cried out, but his hug said otherwise. "You jerk!"

"Uh..." Bark flew closer to Ivan. "I... guess I owe you an apology?"

"Yeah- also, go get yourself trapped in a bottle and suffocate." Ivan snapped before he softened up. "Apology accepted."

-later-

"Did Bark really deserve that?" I asked Ivan as we entered the meadow.

"You have your ways of making amends with the person you hate, and I have my ways of making amends with the person I hate." Ivan told me. "Also, he was stupid enough to think I abandoned you: I forgot how much I hated the other fairies." I had to accept this as I turned my head to check the layout of the meadow.

"Oh come on!" I yelled when I saw that the meadow was infested with more creatures. These ones looked like uglier versions of the dogs in Hyrule town market, and they carried spears with them.

"Moblins." Ivan told me. "If they see you, they'll go in a rage and try to impale you."

Judging by their size, I doubted I could get past them, and so Ivan and I carefully maneuvered through the meadow, using little gaps that were in the creatures blind spots.

A few more minutes later, I faced one moblin in a narrow pathway who was intent on knocking me over with the shockwaves it created on the ground using it's club, and somehow I was able to squeeze past him. After that I finally found myself at a familiar location.

Within the forest was a strange stone structure that lead somewhere, but you couldn't access it because the stairway had been destroyed and was too far out of reach. It was a great mystery, and especially in regards to what it's possible connection was to the stone platform with the strange symbol on the ground. However, this was Saria's special hiding spot, and this was where I used to play with her- even the old stump she used to sit on was still there.

"" _Run away, run away, run away and let's play all day." I sang as Saria played her ocarina. "Let's play all day. In the forest, on a tree, we shall dance and sing... just you and me."_

" _Chase me through the woods, but don't get lost. You don't know what could be the cost! You don't know what could be hiding... somewhere, somewhere, somewhere, somewhere, somewhere, somewhere, somewhere in the dark!"_

 _Saria giggled as she moved the ocarina from her lips. "Please teach me how to play that song!" I begged. "I always wanted to play like you!"_

" _Well...' Saria grinned. "OK!"_

I took the old ocarina out and gave it a sad glance. "I'm sorry... I should have played your song more often." I spoke.

"Hello, Princess!"

I turned in time to see Shadow had somehow appeared from across the other side of the area. For some reason, he wore a blue cloak that completely covered his body and the inside of his hood was pitch black to the point that only his eyes- for whatever reason- were the only thing visible.

"So, how's the forest?" He asked as he gave me a wave.

"It's horrible." I answered. "I can't believe Ganondorf attacked my home. But not only that, everyone has stayed a child except me!" I felt a little saddened by this- was it a reminder of the time that I had lost, or was it that I was no longer an innocent child like the rest of them.

"Time seems to be cruel, doesn't it." Shadow nodded as he lifted his hood back a little so I could see his face, which became more visible. "It moves differently for everyone, but y'all can't change the flow. Still... it can't change the memory of the past, can it?"

I recalled how my reunion went with Mido, and my recollection of my time with Saria. "I suppose not." I agreed as I looked back at the stump, before looking back to Shadow. "Why are you cloaked?"

"I'm taking some risks out in the open." Shadow merely shrugged. "Also... the sunlight and I disagree with each other."

"Meaning?" Ivan asked in annoyance.

"Let's just say I'm allergic to sunlight." Shadow told him as he moved his cloak up so that it rested on his shoulders, before he pulled out a small, but lovely looking harp. "Do you love music?" I asked.

Shadow grinned. "Music soothes the darkest of souls, doesn't it? It helps us remember- much like this song." He then held the harp out and began to pluck out a light tune. "Want to join in?"

I raised the ocarina of time to my lips and copied him.

Shadow grinned. "Nice ear!" He then picked up the pace. "This one's called the minuet of forest!" He closed his eyes as we both played the melody. It only lasted for a short time, but it was nice to be able to get back to doing something that I loved.

When we finished, Shadow put the harp away. "Play that song, and you should be able to come back here if you need to." He snapped his fingers. "Oh, before I forget: your friends with the girl from Lon Lon Ranch, right?"

"Yes?" I asked.

"Don't worry: I brought her pops back home. I also had a _few_ words with the former ranch hand," Shadow then chuckled. "But all is good and done, so everything is back to normal."

"Really?" I was surprised. I wanted to believe what Shadow said, but a part of me felt doubtful. "Why did you do that?"

"I have my own reasons. Anyway, it's been nice catching up with you, Princess- I'll see you sometime later."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Ivan protested. "What was that just now?! Aren't you going to help us?!"

Shadow was silent for a moment. Then he pointed to a branch from a tree that grew next to the stone building. "Hookshot plus tree equals entrance into the Forest Temple!"

He then ran off towards the direction I came from. "Later, y'all!"

"Wait, get back here!" Ivan tried to fly after Shadow and I followed him. We only made it just in time to see Shadow dash towards the moblin, and turned his entire body into a mass some kind of dark purplish black wave that quickly engulfed the beast. There was panicked yelling from the moblin, followed by sickening crunching noise and a silence.

There was an awkward pause between me and my companion as we watched the dark mass swim out towards the other end of the pathway.

"Yeeeesh," Ivan could only respond as I shuddered. "I'm glad I wasn't that guy."

"...Come on, let's go." I turned to the temple: it was time to find Saria.

-Forest temple-

I admit, I couldn't understand why this structure was in the forest, and neither could Ivan. Looking back, the temple looked more like a fortress or an abandoned castle, and aside from the fact that it had lots of wolfos and skutullas hanging around, there was an atmosphere about that place that seemed haunted.

And of course, since Ivan didn't like creepy things, this place really affected him.

"How could Saria come here by herself?!" Ivan demanded as we entered a spacious room where there were four different colored flames.

"It's not too horrible." I admitted as I walked down the steps. "I think your just imagining-"

"GAH!" Ivan yelled. "Zelda the flames vanished!"

I looked and saw that the flames did vanish- and four poes appeared in their pace. All four were the same color as the flame that they rose over.

"Well look here, my sisters!" The purple one spoke. "It's another intruder!"

"We're going to get them, huh Meg?!" The green one seemed eager.

"Of course Amy!" Meg told her. "We can't let another girl wander around in our home, can we?"

"I just wanted to keep writing my stories, and now she's here to interrupt me!" The red one grumbled.

"And I was sewing myself a new dress!" The blue one complained. "You aren't the only one whose upset!"

"Joelle, Beth, please be quiet." Meg demanded. "Think of all the fun we might have with this one."

"Of course." I could hear the sneer in Joelle's voice.

They drifted off to four different corners of the room, before vanishing in the air. At that exact same time, there was a strange structure in the center of the room that sank into the ground.

"Ghosts." Ivan whimpered. "Why'd there have to be ghosts?"

"Come on, scaredy cat." I grinned as I held my shirt open. "Either help me out or go ahead and hide in here."

Ivan hesitated. "Uh... I... don't think I should hide in the- you know what, I'll stay with you." He flew next to me and nervously laughed. "Whats the worst that could happen?"

-later-

Well, we tried to figure out why the temple looked like a huge castle, but we couldn't. I personally liked the temple, though Ivan was more creeped out by it: he hated being in the underground tunnel that we found in the courtyard ("I feel like something's following us from behind." Was what he said.) and he was not happy about the amount of monsters that had skulls for heads. However, his instincts came in handy at one point:

"...I give up." Ivan could only say when we found the twisting hallway. "I don't know how this was built, but I just give up."

"Aw, where's my little ranter?" I asked as we crossed the hallway and into a new room. A treasure chest was on the... uh... wall? Anyway, this was when Ivan suddenly took in a sharp breath of air.

"Ivan?" I asked.

"Something... something's not right." He sounded really scared.

I shrugged and hopped across the platforms. I began to hear a strange sound, like the wind rushing by, that's when Ivan yelled: "RUN!"

I obeyed him and we quickly entered the next room.

"What happened?" I turned to Ivan. "What did you see?"

"Th-there was a s-shadow under you." Ivan stammered. "It-it expanded... a-and I s-s-saw a hand coming towards you."

"Well, I'm safe now." I tried to assure him, though I wondered about what he meant by a hand.

On a side note, one of the switches in the temple straightened out the twisted hallway, but Ivan didn't question it. I think he was either giving up on logic at this point, or that he was too tense to bother with it.

-and later still-

"Do you think Shadow was being truthful about Malon?" I asked Ivan while we were traveling through the temple. "I want to check to make sure, but I don't know if it would be an ok idea, if it turned out that he was lying."

Ivan scoffed. "I wouldn't trust him. I think he's trying to get on our good side, what with making himself look handsome for you and telling you that Malon is safe. I mean, yeah, it would be nice if Malon was safe." He sounded hopeful at this.

"Do you have a crush on Malon?" I grinned.

"What?!" Ivan turned to me. "N-no!" He tried to deny, but he was already turning dark blue. "I'm partnered up with you! That's like cheating!"

"You have a crush on Malon!" I sang. "Ivan's got a crush on Malon!"

"Hey, cut that out! I don't have a crush on her!"

"Well, she is pretty as an adult." I pointed out. "I could see several guys wanting to go out on a date with her... or 'marrying' her." I grimaced at the old memory of Ruto.

-...I'm not going to say the word. I'll just say this:-

-Hi, my name is Larry, I'm the person making these breaks-

-What, did you think the writer was doing these?-

-Yeah, I bet you weren't expecting _that_ -

-Pancakes-

-...Sorry, I don't know why I said that.-

-...Back to the story...-

After awhile, I acquired a bow and some arrows in one of the rooms. It was later a good thing I found them, because we came upon a room where there were paintings of one of the poe sisters. When I got close enough, the poe sister vanished from the painting as I heard a crackling laughter.

"OH GODESSES, IT'S IN THE PAINTING!" (Guess who?)

I figured out what I had to do: I made sure that the poe in the next painting wouldn't see me and shot an arrow at it. I had to shoot at all of them to make Joelle come out.

"Dang it, I was in a middle of writing my book!" Joelle snapped at me. "I'll show you what happens when you bother me!"

However, I already learned that a poe liked to disappear and try to attack you with it's lantern, before reappearing. I finished her off in little time, although it required some patience.

"I hope your happy!" Joelle snapped. "I was writing a sequel to my next book! Now how are my fans going to find out what's next!" She then vanished and a red flame lit up the torch in the room.

"You know, I made a mistake." I grinned at Ivan. "You're not a scaredy cat- you're a scaredy fairy!"

"I am not!" Ivan snapped.

"Scaredy fairy, scaredy fairy!" I sang as we left the room. "Ivan is a scaredy fairy!"

The next poe was Beth, and she was also annoyed at me.

"I was trying to sew a nice dress and calm my nerves when you showed up!" Beth told me. "I was about to do the embroidery!"

"The funny thing was that your sister was in the middle of doing something too." Ivan noted.

Just as before, I defeated Beth like I defeated Joelle, and a blue flame lit the torch.

When we found the green poe sister, it turned out that her painting was a puzzle.

The sister crackled from somewhere. "Solve my puzzle within a minute and ten seconds, and maybe I'll come out and play."

"Why ten seconds?" Ivan asked.

"BECAUSE I WANT TO BE UNIQUE! NOW SHUT UP AND START SOLVING!"

"Eh, no problem." I shrugged as I quickly examined the blocks. Sure, I couldn't see over them, but I was able to manage just fine, and had a second to spare when they faded to reform into Amy.

"I worked hard on making my self portrait!" Amy cursed me. "Why did you have to ruin my fun?!"

Just as before, I finished off the green sister with the aid of my bow and was free to leave.

"One more to go." I found myself in the room with all the torches from earlier. "Where could she be?" I suddenly heard a sound, like someone was crying, and I looked to see the purple poe in the center of the room.

I had a bad feeling in my gut as I approached the crying poe. She only stopped crying when she saw me, and pointed an accusing finger at me.

"You killed my sisters!" Meg roared. "They meant everything to me! Now I'm really angry!"

Her battle was different, compared to her younger sisters- she split herself into duplicates, and I had to watch carefully to figure out which one was the real one (she moved differently than the others at a specific point) and that was when I could attack her. Upon her defeat, the purple flame lit up and the strange contraption rose back out of the ground.

"Finally!" Ivan was relieved. "I can't take any more spooks in this place!"

"I wasn't happy about what I've done." I felt that in killing the sisters and leaving one to mourn their loss before also killing her was the worst thing I could have done to my opponents at this point. Sure, they were pretty... eccentric, but still, it felt like maybe I could have done things differently.

However, we still needed to find Saria.

"Come on, let's go." I turned to the contraption. "Let's find Saria."

"And Sunny too." Ivan added. "She's probably with Saria. Good thing too- I'd hate to be in this temple by myself."

We took the contraption down to the basement, and after a rather mind-numbing puzzle, I could finally enter the last room of the temple.

In the final room of the temple, there were a series of paintings that showed the same image: a dark, forested road that lead to a castle. On the ground was the image of the Triforce, which I found to be very strange.

Ivan sighed. "Let's get out of here- it's only a dead end."

"This can't be right." I said as I looked around the room. "Where's Saria?"

When I turned and began to head back, a set of spikes rose out of the ground and blocked our way.

"Ok, that's..." I felt a strange, ominous feeling about this.

That's when I heard the sound of a horse behind me.

That ominous feeling turned unto a nasty sense of deja vu as I turned around- and almost screamed as I backed away in horror.

Sitting on his black stallion, with some sort of staff in hand, was Ganondorf himself.

I wanted to get the Master Sword out then, but I my eyes were locked with those hateful yellow eyes of my enemy. I felt rooted to the spot as the memory of that horrible night raced in my mind, and Ganondorf let out a deep laugh at my fear before he reached his hand to his face...

...And pulled it away to reveal some sort of death mask.

"Ok, I'm through with this Din-awful place!" Ivan yelled as Ganondorf's horse rose into the air. "Zelda, I think that's just a phantom! Don't let it get to you!"

As the horse leaped into a vortex that appeared in one of the paintings, I finally snapped out of it. "Right!" I nodded and took my bow out- I had a feeling I'd need it.

We watched as the phantom rode off into the painting before he disappeared. "Ivan, tell me where he's coming!" I commanded as I waited.

A moment passed before Ivan yelled. "Left, left!" I turned and sure enough, the horse and rider charged towards me within the painting, and into the vortex that suddenly formed. Just as the horse leapt out, I hit the rider with the arrow with a great satisfaction that I had desired for quite some time. However, right after I did this, the horse retreated back into the painting.

"COME BACK HERE, COWARD!" I yelled as I readied my bow.

The process grew increasingly frustrating- eventually two versions of the phantom tried to trick me, but I knew know how to tell which one was the real one, and when the portal showed up, I let him have it.

Having had enough, the phantom abandoned his horse and hovered in the air with his staff.

"Come on!" I took the Master Sword out. "Show me what you got!"

"If the Master Sword repels evil, maybe it could repel magic!" Ivan reminded me. "We should see if it works!"

The phantom readied his staff and sent out a burst of magic at me, but this time I was not going to let what happened to me all these years ago happen again. As the ball of magic came towards me, I let out a furious yell and swung my sword at it, causing the magic to go back to the caster.

I was impressed at what I had just done- I actually repelled the dark magic! Of course, it was too late to celebrate because the caster of the magic swung his staff at it, and back towards me. And I, in turn, had to retaliate it back again.

Each time we swung it, the magic ball speed up faster and faster, but I refused to let my guard down. My instincts told me to keep my eye on that magic and time it carefully, but it was growing difficult.

Finally, just when it seemed that we were stuck in a loop, the phantom missed and fell to the ground as an electrical charge ran through his body.

I yelled and held my sword out as I charged towards him. Before he could have a chance to get up, I let him have it. Several times.

I didn't care if it was an illusion or not- I was angry at him for all he did, and I wanted to savor the moment of letting all that guilt out on him.

Finally the phantom began to rise in the air as he became consumed by a blue flame and flailed like a fish out of water before he finally grew limp.

"Sweet Din Zelda!" Ivan was amazed and not in a good way. "You butchered him!"

We watched as another portal appeared on the ground and the phantom drifted towards it. And that's when I heard him:

" _Hey kid, you did quite well. It looks like you've been gaining some slight skill."_ He sounded amused.

Hearing that voice almost scared me, because I remembered too well what happened the last time he spoke to me. Still, a part of me found the courage within to get angry at him.

"Where are you?!" I yelled. "Show your face and fight me!"

"Zelda, don't!" Ivan pleaded. "You aren't ready yet! It's too soon!"

" _Yes... listen to your little friend."_ He spoke in a condescending tone. _"You only defeated my phantom... when you fight the real me, it won't be so easy!"_

The phantom then rose up and began letting out horrible cries as it gripped it's head.

" _Bah, what a worthless creation that ghost was! I will banish it to the gap between dimensions!"_

And so we watched as the phantom was dragged into the portal and it vanished altogether. Seconds later, a blue light from so many years ago rose up in it's place.

"You know... I kind of felt sorry for that phantom right then." Ivan confessed.

"Why?" I bitterly asked. "It was one of his underlings, wasn't it?"

"I think it's better to have pity instead of anger." Ivan told me. "If you stay angry forever, I don't think you can last for very long. I mean, you did pity the poe sisters awhile back, so you're kind of going against your nature."

In a way, Ivan was right. At that time, I just wanted to go back to the forest, so I returned my sword to it's sheath. "It's... it's just not fair." I told him. "I can't see anything to pity about anything related to the man who ruined Hyrule."

I stepped into the column of light and I started to feel a little better. To my surprise, a pink crystal surrounded us, and I felt myself be lifted into the sky as a flash of white followed seconds later.

When the light cleared, I was once again in the chamber of the sages, but I was facing the green medallion. When the crystal faded, I was free to come face to face with the sage of the forest as she rose out of the medallion.

"Saria?" I asked. I was a little surprised, but at the same time, I wasn't.

My old friend gave me a smile. "It's good to see you again Zelda."

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to visit all those years ago." I apologized as I took the old ocarina out and held it to her. "But I was able to keep it all of these years."

"I'm glad you recognized us right from the spot." Ivan told Saria, but then he sounded concerned. "Where's Sunny? I thought she'd be with you."

Saria's eyes suddenly dimmed and she looked to the ground. "She... she's gone." She told us.

"What does that mean?" I asked as I began to feel concerned.

"As a sage, I can't be with the others anymore- I have my duties to fulfill to protect the forest and all of Hyrule..." Saria took a deep breath and looked at me and Ivan. "I'm glad that he's stayed with you, after all this time."

"Sunny..." Ivan sounded lost, and even a little heart broken.

"I'm so sorry." Was all I could tell Saria. I couldn't figure out how it happened, but I could feel the loss of Sunny through Saria, and the idea that her long-time partner was gone made me feel sad for her.

"Because of you, I was able to awaken as a sage." Saria finally spoke. "I knew you would one day come back." The young girl gave me a smile. "I can't be with you in the same world anymore, since we both have our separate duties... but I can at least give you my power, when the time comes."

The light of the room suddenly started to turn white. "No wait!" I panicked: I just reunited with Saria, and this was how it was going to be? A short hello and good-bye?

Before everything turned white, I tossed the old ocarina to her and yelled. "I promise I won't forget you!"

" _I'll... always be your friend."_ Saria's voice echoed out as everything finally vanished from my sight.

-?-

When I came to, I found myself at the Great Deku Tree with Ivan.

The old tree looked as withered as the day he died, as if to remind me of that fateful day, when everything changed.

"Poor Sunny." I glanced to Ivan as he mournfully spoke. "She and Saria didn't deserve to be separated- not like this."

I was about to ask what Ivan meant, when I heard a strange sound. I turned to see that a beam of light escaped through the tree, and was shinning down on a small plant.

"What on-?" I glanced down to take a closer look.

Something bursted up from the ground and I fell back with a scream.

"Is this the first thing I hear when I pop out?" I glanced my head up in shock to see a smiling, fat little tree.

"W-what are you?!" I gasped.

"I'm the new Great Deku Tree!" The tree grinned. "It's a pleasure to meet you Zelda! And to you too Ivan!" He greeted my companion.

"A... new Great Deku Tree?" Ivan was stunned as I sat myself back up.

"Yes indeed!" The tree answered. "I was supposed to come out earlier, but the darkness in the forest kept me from doing so, until you and Saria saved it. You could say I'm a bit of a late bloomer." He chortled.

It was a lame pun, but I couldn't help but join in his laughter.

"Now then- I have a feeling you want to know why the others didn't grow up, but you did." The tree asked. "Why didn't you have a fairy all of those years ago?"

I thought this over several times as a child, and I wondered about the lack of change ever since I spoke with Mido. "Am... am I not a Kokiri?" I asked,

"Correct! You are a Hylian!" The tree told me. "Hylia's blood flows through all his people and especially in you!"

I shared a surprised look with Ivan. "Did you know-?" I began.

"No." Ivan shook his body. "I had no idea!"

"Not many knew who you really were." The tree spoke. "You see... a long time ago, there was a war before the unification of Hyrule. The forest was unaffected and had no part in it until a noblewoman came to our tree- she carried with her an infant child, but she was gravely injured."

 _-seventeen years ago-_

 _One morning, just before the sun could rise, a woman with a bundle in her arms stumbled her way towards the Great Deku Tree._

" _Who goes there?" The mighty guardian demanded. "Who has invaded my forest?"_

" _I mean no harm!" The woman held a pleading hand out. She wore very fine clothing, but it was covered in dirt and blood that seemed to be coming from her abdomen. Judging by the stains in her dress, she already lost quite a lot of blood._

" _Great Deku Tree, I seek your he-" she suddenly bent over and coughed into her hand. Blood fell into her hand as she struggled to stay alive. "I'm going to die!" She pleaded._

" _I can not save thee, as much as I wish it was in my power."_

" _I don't care about my life!" The woman protested as she moved the bundle with one arm to reveal an infant inside. "My daughter- she needs to live!"_

" _Please... I can't continue." The woman wheezed as she fell to her knees and clutched the baby in her arms. "My daughter... my Zelda... I can't die until I know that she'll be safe. Great Deku Tree, if you can find it in your heart... please save my precious."_

 _The Great Deku Tree was kinder than she had suspected. "Then I shall, good woman." He promised. "She will be safe in the forest and will be raised amongst the Kokiri, but she cannot leave until she is of proper age. I sense something about your daughter- something special inside her. I sense a great destiny in her future."_

 _The woman looked like she was going to cry in happiness, but she was growing paler by the moment. "Th-thank you, Great Deku Tree."_

 _Carefully she laid her sleeping child onto the grass- Zelda would never know of her birthright for a long time, but her safety was all that mattered to the mother._

" _Take this." The woman undid the brooch on her dress and gently placed it next to the babe. "I will be dead, but at least a part of me will always be with you..." She smiled. "Forever."_

 _Slowly she fell to the ground, and laid on her side. She reached a hand out to Zelda, who opened her eyes- eyes like her mother- and let out a sweet coo._

"Hush a-bye, you may close your eyes," _Her mother sang the lullaby as her life was finally vanishing from her body_ "you are safe with me at your side. Don't you fear, I am here, my dear, where you may dream. Should we become apart..." _The mother's vision began to blur... "_ know that your in my hea...rt... never... for..get... my... d..dove..."

 _The woman's heart would beat one last time after she finished singing, before silence fell under the Great Deku Tree._

-present day-

I could feel my tear escape from my eyes. "So... that's why-" My hand went to the brooch that I wore.

"My predecessor barely knew your mother, but I would believe that he was proud that you grew up to be the girl her mother would have wanted you to be." The Deku Tree told me. "You may be Hylian in blood, but you will always be a Kokiri in the eyes of the forest. I regret that you were not told of your heritage sooner- it would have saved you a lot of pain- but at least I could tell you before it was too late."

"So was Zelda always destined to save Hyrule?" Ivan asked.

"Of course!" The tree smiled. "Even Saria carried a destiny with her! You shouldn't be afraid of it, but I'm not saying you have to love your fate. However, I think you'll do just fine."

I finally got up off the ground. "Great Deku Tree..." I addressed him. "...Thank you."

"And thank you for all you've done." The Great Deku Tree replied. "I will make sure that I will never forget you and I will tell the future generation of Kokiri of what you've done."

And so, I waved bye to the new Great Deku Tree and began to make my journey back to Epona (who must have been waiting for me.

"Well, one down, four to go." Ivan spoke. "Where next?"

"Well... I should probably check on Darunia." I decided. "I need to find out what happened to Death Mountain."

Before leaving, I look one final glance around the forest- the home that I always knew.

"...So long." I whispered, before turning back while I hummed Saria's song.

-AND NOW-

-WE PRESENT-

-SUPER BONUS EXTRA-

-'The Shadow of the Hyrule' (or 'This barely makes any sense')-

"Ugh..." Zelda groaned as she sat up in her chair. "W-where are we, Ivan?" She glanced around the room- apparently she was in some sort of fancy dressing room with a noticeably huge mirror that took up one end of the room.

"Nice nightie." Ivan snickered. Zelda looked down to see that her clothes were replaced by some sort of ruffly white robe, with some sort of strange red, green and gold corset underneath. All she had left of her belongings was her Master Sword, of all things.

Suddenly, music started to play. It sounded as if it came from an era of 8-bit graphics, flashy clothes, leg warmers, and the glory days of MTV. Of course, for the sake of the reader who knows this song, they are free to forego that description and replace it with something more suitable.

"Oh Princess!" A familiar face appeared behind the mirror and happily waved to Zelda.

Zelda was about to ask why the heck Shadow was dressed differently- or why he wore a fancy cape and a half white mask.

"All for the fan girls and boys." Shadow wink shattered the fourth wall to pieces as he shoved the mirror to the side. "Now come on Princess!" Shadow practically flew in and grabbed Zelda by the hand. "We have a tribute to do."

"Where's that music coming from?" Zelda asked, but without warning, a series of chords from an organ started playing out.

"...More importantly, how can well here it so well, as if it's somewhere right in front of us?" Ivan asked as he trailed after Zelda and Shadow as they walked through the dark catacombs of... who knows.

" _What the heck's going on?"_ Zelda suddenly sang. _"What's with this dress? Am I supposed to be a damsel in distress?"_

" _And yet I rather like...what I find."_ Zelda glanced back to Shadow who gave her a suggestive wink and grin that... made her suddenly not mind whatever was going on, in addition to the fact that somehow Shadow was now a more attractive than usual and made her blush. _"The Shadow of the Hyrule is now... inside my mind."_

The awesome chords from the organ continued on as Shadow took Zelda to Epona, who was somehow in these catacombs with Saria who was forced to hold up a sign that says: ' _Epona as Cesar the horse: yes, the horse_ was _in the book and not a gimmick from the 2004 version of this song.'_

" _Play once again with me!"_ Shadow sang as Zelda got up on a horse and lead her off to... somewhere up a set of red carpeted stairs. Apparently he was the only one who knew what was going on ( _of course_.) and wanted to stay more in character. _"Our strange duet! My power over you, grows stronger yet."_

" _And though were forced to do... this tribute... the Shadow of the Hyrule thinks that... you look real cute."_ He glanced up to Zelda who suddenly turned fifty shades red in the face.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Ganondorf was playing the chords to the strange song. Yes, because who _else_ would be playing the organ? Why he was involved in this... made sense and yet it didn't.

His phantom incarnation floated next to him and took over the next verse.

" _Hey you there $$-hole,"_ The phantom angrily sang. _"Thanks for the boot! I hope that you won't get the Triforce loot!"_

" _I hope the next dungeon,"_ Ganondorf closed his eyes and sang as he tried to block out Phantom Ganon's rant. " _will give them hell."_

" _I hope I get to stab Ganon-fork's ugly face."_ Shadow sang as he lead Zelda and Epona up the stairs. _"But time will tell."_ He sighed.

One brief moment of instrumentals later, Shadow slammed the doors to Ganondorf's room open. He lead Zelda in by the hand, as Ganondorf whipped around in confusion.

By now, Ivan had no clue what was going on or why everyone was singing. He decided to give up logic as he rested on the hilt of the Master Sword.

" _Will anything make sense?"_ Ivan wondered. _"I don't really know. Has all the worlds' logic, gone out the window?"_

" _Don't even bother."_ A voice suddenly sang from the Master Sword and caused Ivan to fly off it (and screamed the whole way through.) _"Don't keep a lid-"_

" _HOOOOOOLY MUFFINS did the Master Sword just sing?!"_ Ivan freaked out.

" _Indeed I did."_ Was the smug response.

"Now y'all shut up!" Shadow bellowed out as he threw a hand out. "Let the lady fan her ego!"

"Wait what?" Ivan looked around in confusion before noticing some random chick with blonde hair and green eyes grin as if she hit the jackpot.

" _This is..."_ she sang. _"My birthday tribute!"_

And suddenly she began singing out a bunch of high notes. Each one became steadily higher in pitch, as Ganondorf kept plunking out on the organ as his phantom self kept shooting him death glares.

"WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!" Ivan yelled out over the singing. "HOW IS ANY OF THIS RELEVANT TO OUR QUEST?!"

He was ignored in favor of the young lady who was trying to sing several high C notes... with some struggle.

Now, as one might wonder: was she able to pull off the final, infamous E6 note? The one that would make or break any broadway girl's dream?

...No. Because while the author admits to having an ego enough to appear several times in this series, her voice doesn't reach that potential, and thus spares us from another case of mary-sue-itis.

Instead of a lovely note that sounded as if it would soar up into the heavens, the voice somehow jumped up even higher than that and sounded unpleasant and barely controlled. It made everyone in the room cringe and cover their ears.

The writer sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "Ah screw it. I can always commence Operation: Late Birthday Party with the cast of Hyrule Warriors Warped and my readers."

And in a poof of smoke, the writer disappeared, hopefully to never to be seen ever again in this fan fic. She left behind an incredible awkward silence amongst the group.

"You know if you want a better Zelda version of that song, check out the '64 things wrong with Ocarina of Time' on youtube." Phantom Ganon advised, before also vanishing.

"Yeah, I think I'm done catering to someone's fantasy." Shadow grabbed Zelda and engulfed her and Navi in a dark mass, which then went out the doors.

Ganondorf only shrugged and went on to play 'Never gonna give you up' by Rick Astley on the organ.

* * *

This temple never scared me... with the exception of the wallmaster, of course.

I really wanted Ivan to call Bark a dumbass instead of dumb-butt. Speaking of Bark, my very first Zelda fanfiction had Mido's fairy named Bark (I wouldn't recommend finding it- it ended up being an unfinished disgrace.) And this was about... ten years ago!

Also: scaredy fairy! XD

Cookie point bonus round: I expanded on the poe sisters personalities. If you know your literature/a certain reference, you might also know why I did this.

Also: I don't own anything related to Phantom of the Opera, the 64 Things Wrong wit-

-actually, I don't own squat in this chapter. Except myself.


	8. Fire's rage

**EDIT: I wrote that Shadow 'ran a head over his face' and I left it in because it was funny, but I decided to change it. I refer to this later on in my commentary, but that was before I made this change.**

 **Annnnnd I am back from seeing the new tour production of Phantom of the Opera, with the wonderfully talented Chris Mann and Katie Travis (I got Chris Mann's autograph! I got the Phantom's autograph!). I've wanted to see it for so long and I almost cried out of happiness when the chandelier came to life and the overture played! I really want to see it again soooooo badly! I know understand why the musical has lasted for so long, and did I mention that it's my favorite musical and one of my favorite books?!**

 **Thanks for the birthday wishes, and for your amusing reactions to the last chapter- and for putting up with my weird way of expressing happiness for that wondrous birthday gift.**

 **PsycoFangirl: I bet Joelle likes to write creepy fan fiction (Death Note maybe?). Maybe she even made her own creepy pasta. And I demand an organ rendition of "Never gonna give you up." among the many songs to play on the organ.**

 **mysteriousguy898: LOL I consider that one of my better attempts at rhyming. I failed on the Bongo-Bongo poem earlier (shame on me.) And hopefully I won't have to sing again. (also, I hate those types of wallmasters too.)**

 **Phoenix Champion: Thanks! Annnnd... well... let's read on.**

 **AMaeJay: I seriously would find it amusing if I heard my rendition of Phantom of the Opera in real life. Especially Phantom Ganon's, "Hey you there $$hole" part- such a charming thing to say to said tune (It's funny to sing out-loud). :D And I loved the rendition on "64 things wrong with" as a bonus- it made me happy the first time I heard it.**

 **HeroAlexa249: I doubt we will see the bottles. As a bonus, let's see how badly Ivan gives up on the Water Temple later on...**

* * *

 **Chapter 8: Fiery rage**

I stared at the back of my hand after I took my gauntlet off. I didn't notice it before (due to events not worth repeating but it was there.

The mark of the Triforce was on the back of my hand.

"Maybe it's a sign of your destiny?" Ivan asked.

"I suppose." I murmured. I didn't know whether to feel reassured by the mark or be cautious of it. Whatever it meant, I could not let anyone see it, so I quickly covered it up.

"Don't tell anyone about it just yet." I spoke to Ivan. "Not until we find someone we can completely trust."

"If that's what you want." Ivan assured me.

Finally, after a night of rest, I was able to ride Epona all the way back to Kakariko Village, where I asked Aiden why the mountain had a ring of fire over it as I purchased a new set of supplies.

"I honestly don't know." He gave it a worried look. "Ganondorf supposedly visited the mountain and tried to get the Gorons to surrender to him. Of course, that's probably just a rumor." He tried to reason to himself as he handed me the supplies that I purchased for the journey ahead. "Still... there's also the rumor that the mountain will erupt sometime soon."

I glanced back up to the mountain: whatever happened, it wasn't bound to be good. "Well... it's a good thing I'm here." I reasoned.

 **-Goron City-**

Even though it was almost expected, Goron City was entirely empty. It felt like we were the only ones in a city that was once full of life and warmth.

"I wonder what happened." Ivan flew out to the center of the city and looked around. Finally he let out an excited "There's a Goron rolling around the city!" He flew back to me. "Let's talk to him!"

Unfortunately, it seemed that this Goron was unaware that we were even here. When I called out "Hey!" He didn't stop and almost ran me over. (Jerk.)

"Hmmm." I began to think, before an idea crossed my mind. "Hey Ivan." I took a bomb out. "Do you think this will harm him?"

"Uh...I honestly don't know." Ivan didn't sound so sure. "Sure, they might be made of rocks- or at least I think they do- but-"

With a shrug, I timed how fast the Goron was rolling around the ground, before I set the bomb in his pathway.

"Hey Ivan!" I grinned and spoke with an over the top innocent voice as I remembered something from awhile ago. "I just dropped a bomb! I sure hope nothing happens to-"

The moment the Goron collided with the bomb, it exploded and stopped him in his tracks. He unfurled himself and appeared to be dazed, but also angry at me.

"How could you do that to me?!" The Goron was smaller than the ones that I had seen and his voice wasn't as deep.

I glanced to Ivan and couldn't help fight off the grin. "...Oopsie?" We then laughed, despite the Goron's anger.

"You're one of Ganondorf's men, aren't you?!" The Goron accused me as he puffed his chest out. "Hear my name and fear me! I am Zeldah! Hero of the Gorons!"

We stopped laughing.

"Wait, what's your name again?" Ivan asked.

"Zeldah!"

"So...you're a girl Goron?"

"Hey, I was named after the Legendary Dodongo Buster and hero Zelda! Dad just added an 'h' to it to make it more masculine."

"There's no masculine form of Zelda!" Ivan protested. "And there isn't an 'h' at the end of it! It only makes it a spelling error!"

"Hang on you two." I held my hands out to stop them and looked at the Goron who inherited my name. "Is your father Darunia by any chance? I happen to be named Zelda, so-"

"Yes!" The Goron beamed with pride before his eyes shone with excitement. "And are you really the same Zelda who defeated the dodongos?"

When I nodded, he gave me a big grin. "He named me after you! It's a cool name! I really like it."

Ivan barely hid his chuckle at this.

"Where is everyone?" I asked. At this, the young Goron's smile dropped and his eyes became filled with fear.

"My dad went into the fire temple. There's a dragon inside." He began. "I-if we don't hurry up, everyone will be eaten by the dragon!" He began to tremble.

"What dragon?" I asked.

"A long time ago, there was an evil dragon named Volvagia that lived in this mountain! He was very scary and he ate Gorons!" He then threw his hands out. "But then, the hero of the Gorons... using his big hammer... BOOM!" He made as if swinging a hammer down. "He destroyed it, just like that! It seems like a myth, but it's true- my dad is a descendant of that hero!"

"B-but Ganondorf's followers came into our city and locked everyone away into the fire temple!" The Goron continued. "Dad swears that Ganondorf has revived Volvagia, and he's going to feed them all to the dragon as a warning to those who would dare to oppose him! Dad went to the fire temple to try to stop him!" He wailed.

"Zeldah!" I dropped to my knees and grabbed the Goron by the arms. "Tell me how to get there! I promise I'll help your father and your people!" I gave his arms a firm grip. "I swear, as your father's Sworn Brother, that I'll do what I can!"

The Goron took a deep breath and looked me in the eye. "You swear it?" He asked in a wavering, yet hopeful voice.

"As long as I am an ally to your father, I will be there for him." I smiled.

Zeldah was able to manage a smile. "There's a secret passage behind the statue in dad's room. There's also a heat-resistant tunic you should wear- it'll keep you from getting heat stroke."

As Zeldah guided us towards Darunia's chambers, something was bothering me in the back of my mind. While the young Goron began to talk about himself, I was wondering: I heard the name 'Volvagia' somewhere before. But when exactly _was_ that?

Just then, my name sake snapped me out of my thoughts. "Here!" He held out a red tunic that seemed to be a few sizes to big for me, but it would suit me just right.

"Thanks." I accepted the tunic and replaced my pink over shirt with the garment. It was almost like wearing a second dress, and I had to use my belt to keep it secure to my body.

Delighted by the sight of me, Zeldah quickly moved to the large statue in Darunia's chambers and pulled it out with an ease that I wouldn't have had as the way I was. "Good luck, Sworn Brother!" He moved away and gave me a hopeful smile. "And please be careful! It's dangerous in the fire temple- you might get burned if you're not careful!"

"I will." I promised and went through the dark passageway. Before I knew it, the temperature began to crawl, until it felt as hot as a summer's day in the forest.

When I got to the very end, I found myself inside the active volcano of Death Mountain, where lava and earth mingled together, in some sort of brotherhood of might. To my surprise, I saw a familiar figure standing on the nearby bridge, and he was playing a short tune on the harp.

"Shadow?" I asked as I walked over the bridge. The moment I did, I felt an intense heat against my exposed flesh, while everything covered by the red tunic felt surprisingly cool against my skin. It was most likely due to the fact that there was lava right below me.

As Ivan and I approached Shadow, he seemed to be unaware of my presence. He seemed to be lost within the music.

"Shadow?" I asked again, but there was no response. Finally, I took out the Ocarina of Time and copied his tune. This seemed to finally wake him up and he turned to face me but he didn't seem entirely thrilled to see us. In fact, whatever humor or secrets were inside his red eyes, were replaced with a weariness that seemed rather unexpected of him and almost alarming.

"Oh... of course you'd come." He nodded. "I didn't realize it would be so soon."

"Are you ok, buddy?" Ivan flew a few feet from me to get a closer look at Shadow. "You don't seem to be in a good mood."

Shadow took one look at Ivan and suddenly gave him a scowl and his eyes narrowed at me. "I'm peachy- is that what you want me to say, motor-mouth?!" He snapped and made to slap Ivan out of the way, but Ivan quickly dodged this.

Ivan immediately flew back to me. "Geez man, what's your problem?! I was just concerned!" He yelled.

Shadow took a deep breath and was about to yell at us, but then something flashed in his eyes and slowly he deflated as the fire in his eyes died and slowly shook his head. "It..." He ran a hand over his face and grabbed his bangs. "It's nothing."

He then forced a wide grin at me. "You know something that grows over time? Friendship. True friendship."

"Uh..." I was confused at this sudden change of behavior- this mask he suddenly forced on his face- but Shadow continued. "A feeling in the heart that becomes stronger overtime. The passion of friendship will soon blossom into a righteous power, and you will know which way to go through it." He then whipped out the harp again and began to play the tune on the harp again.

"The bolero of fire." He spoke to himself as he began to play and hummed along to it. I wasn't sure what to do, but play along with him. This continued for almost a minute until he finally stopped, and I followed suit.

"So... you're going to save Darunia and the others?" He asked. "No matter what it takes?"

"Of course." I replied. "Why wouldn't I?"

He only took a deep sigh and gave me a weary smile. "See y'all later." He waved and turned back.

"Wait- Shadow?" I asked as I walked further towards him. "What's wrong?!"

Instead, he sprinted and turned his body into a mass of darkness, which then seemed to go even faster until I could see it flood over the rock walls of the mountain and out of sight.

"Ah, who needs him!" Ivan dismissed the strange moment. "He's flaking on us again. Let's just go to the temple."

"I know but..." I trailed off. "He seemed... conflicted?"

"We barely know the guy!" Ivan pointed out. "Heck, he probably chose to look like a handsome guy to get on your good side, before he brings us to Ganondorf."

I didn't bother to protest. We had things to do.

 **-The fire temple-**

I found it odd that we had to take a set of stairs down the temple and I wondered how it could support the weight of just one Goron. Still, it was apparent that it was going to live to it's namesake, as I could already see fire and fire keese.

"Wait a second." Ivan stopped. "Do... do you hear that?"

I listened. It sounded faint, but then it slowly grew in volume- it... it sounded like:

"Is someone chanting?" I wondered. It sounded scared, but at the same time, reserved, as if welcoming the inevitable.

Ivan shuddered. "Let's go find Darunia." He then flew towards one of the doors. "Let's try this one."

I accepted this choice and entered a huge lava filled cavern, filled with many platforms spaced across the dangerous floor below.

What I was not expecting was to see Darunia right across the room by a huge door. I was taken by surprise at how fast we found him in such a short amount of time.

"Who's there?" He demanded, before his voice sounded excited (he was so far away, that I could barely see his expression.) "Zelda?! Is that you?!"

"It is!" I cupped a hand next to my mouth and yelled out as I walked closer to him- or at least as far as my platform would allow me to. "Your son told me what's been happening on the mountain! And I came for help!"

He let out a laugh. "You've grown big since I last saw you! I'd want a talk and catch up with you, but now isn't a good time!"

His voice grew serious. "If that fire-breathing dragon escapes from the mountain, Hyrule will become a burning wasteland! I'm going to go on ahead to try to seal up the evil dragon! I don't have the legendary hammer that my ancestor used, but I don't have a choice at this point!"

"Zelda, as a Sworn-Brother, I must ask you- while I'm trying to deal with the dragon, please rescue my people! There are prison cells throughout the temple- I'm counting on you!" He added with a strange certainty that made me concerned.

"You aren't planning to seal yourself with the dragon, are you?!" I asked, but Darunia had then turned and entered the next room.

"I swear, that guy needs to accept help." Ivan muttered. "Hey, I thought I saw a Goron trapped in a cell in this room. I'll lead you to him."

And so, I released the first of the Gorons, who was trapped behind a set of bars, which required me to step on a switch. Having seen our conversation from before, he advised me that I could get across to the room that Darunia went to, if I did something about the pillar in the room. I would have to find the room up above first, before that could be done.

In the room in which I found the second Goron, Ivan and I could hear that chanting again. We quickly discovered that the chanting came from the Goron, who was trembling while he was rolled up into a ball on the ground, and I could make out snippets of his chant:

" _Father Eldin... son of the fire mother Din,_ " His voice trembled. _"May I pass through the fire of the after-life as my light goes out. May you let me become one with my brothers in the great earth. May my life's strength and my life's story have not been in vain. This I ask. This I ask."_

"Excuse me." I called out. The Goron stopped himself mid-chant and looked up at me.

"Have you come to rescue us?" There was no denying the hope in his voice.

"Yes!" I smiled as I walked to the switch and opened the cell doors.

"Praise Din!" The Goron took a deep breath and smiled as the doors opened. "Don't forget the others!" He told me as he hurried off.

"I hope they will at least try to save each other." Ivan said as soon as the door closed.

"This dragon must be incredibly powerful if it can eat a Goron." I wondered. Once again, the name bothered me: where had I heard the name Volvagia before?

A memory suddenly flashed of when I first met Link. I could see him carrying a small dragon in his arms, that happily chirped out his name.

Did Link name his dragon after the Volvagia that Ganondorf resurrected?

Come to think of it, I had completely forgotten about the sweet little creature. I couldn't see him in Link's possession when he left with Impa...

...And Ganondorf could use a dragon to his advantage.

"Ivan... could this Volvagia be the same Volvagia we met?" I asked as I glanced up at him. "The one who was friends with Link and could only say Link's name?"

"I don't know how long it takes for a dragon to age." Ivan was uncertain. "They have a longer lifespan than Hylians, and considering how small the prince's friend was, I doubt he could have reached the right size to eat a Goron. Plus, Zeldah-" He snickered at this "-did say that he was resurrected."

"Of course." I nodded and felt slightly assured.

But not entirely.

 **-sometime later-**

Well, I can't say that I enjoyed the fire temple. There were so many traps, and so much fire, that I was almost burnt more than once, and the fact that many of the monsters were fire based, didn't make things easier. Thankfully, I was able to save more Gorons, and I had thought to bring a lot of water to drink, to recharge myself after I began to sweat. My clothes were starting to stick to me like a second skin, and it wasn't pleasant.

One of the most aggravating puzzles provided me a generous reward in the form of a huge metal hammer. However, the thing felt so heavy, that I was wondering how it was possible for me to fit it up out of the chest- especially after it required the used of both hands!

"This thing feels like it weighs a ton!" I complained to Ivan.

"Ten rupees says that's the hammer Darunia was talking about." Ivan replied. "No wonder it looks so heavy! Maybe we should call it the megaton hammer!"

I gave him a confused look.

"Because it weighs a ton: mega-ton?"

I shrugged and put it away. I would have need for it later, but I didn't want it out the whole time.

"So... why did Darunia think it was a good idea to name his son after me?" I asked. "I mean, imagine if my name had been Betsy, or Christine, or Lily, or something else too girly for a boy to have for a name."

"Or what if your name was something like 'Butts' or something random that had a series of numbers in it?" Ivan laughed. "That poor kid! I guess he got lucky your mother named you Zelda."

"I suppose it would be funny if my name had been 'Butts'." I agreed. "Though Mido would have called me 'Butt-face' for most of my childhood if that had been the case."

"Long live Butt-face: the Hero of Time!"

We broke out into a fit of laughter at the absurdity of such a 'what-if.' And so, we continued with what childish innocence we still retained, as we faced the dungeon together and made fun of possible names I could of had.

When I was finally able to find the pillar and smash it to the first floor with the hammer, it then occurred to me that I would have to go all the way back down.

...And how many traps and puzzles did I have to solve? How many false doors and walls of fire did I have to run from to get to this point?

"Well crud." I sighed. "Do you suppose we should just walk all the way back down? I could jump down, but it'd probably kill me."

Ivan was silent.

Then he let out a curse word so loudly that the godesses themselves could have heard it.

"I'm going to kill whoever built this temple!" He swore to me. "We went through so many traps, and now we-"

There was a flash of green and suddenly we were back at the first room of the temple.

"-have to go all the way- WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED?!" Ivan glanced around. "How in Farore's name did we just get back down here?!"

"Maybe someone is looking out for us?" I had no clue how to answer this. The magic was strange, but it felt reassuring to me.

Maybe someone was helping us out? The only person I could think of wasn't present, and he didn't help us out the last time either.

"...Well." Ivan tried to say. "I..guess we should help Darunia out?"

"Sure." I slumped against a wall and sat down. "Just... give me a minute." I took my water out and drank up. I needed time to regain my strength for what was ahead- if this was to be like the last dungeons, I would be in for an interesting fight.

"So... we probably need to use the hammer." Ivan thought. "Darunia's ancestor used it against the dragon, so maybe it has thick scales." Ivan growled in frustration. "If only I knew what kind of dragon you'll be facing!"

A few minutes later, I finally recovered enough to continue on.

 **-boss room-**

There was no sign of Darunia.

There was only a room full of lava and one huge circular rock with pits of lava, and there was only one platform between it and the door I jsut entered through. But there was no sign of my Sworn Brother.

"Darunia..." I felt dread at what could have happened. "He... did the dragon...?"

I took a deep breath. Whatever happened, Darunia tried his best and at least bought me time to save his people, but he didn't have the hammer...

"Come on Zelda." Ivan gently coaxed. "You... you'll slay the dragon on his behalf. It's all we can do at this point."

And so, I crossed the platform and walked onto the rocky platform. The one between me and the door sank into the lava, but I wasn't surprised and waited for the dragon- for Volvagia- to appear.

The ground began to shake and one of the lava pits suddenly became active. In a burst of red, a long bodied creature shot out from the pit- it's mane almost seemed to be made of fire, and it's body flickered like fire as it twisted and turned in the air like a snake. With the exception of two arms with sharp claws, it almost could have been some sort of flying snake.

As it came closer to me, I could see it's green eyes... it's elongated horns and a beak like mouth...

 _I could feel something scrambling on my stomach, and I raised my head in confusion to see some great big horned lizard about a fraction of my size, scrambling to get off me, while still holding a huge fish in his mouth._

The dragon sent out a jet of flame that almost singed my face, had I not jumped out of the way. When I regained my senses, I saw that the dragon entered one of the lava pits.

"Alright Ivan, what should I do?!" I asked.

"Maybe you have to use the hammer on it's skull!" Ivan realized. "If it moves around like that, maybe you'll have a better chance when it's still!"

As if on cue, one of the pits began to bubble up and I watched as the dragon popped a fraction of it's body out of the lava pit. When it looked at me, there was none of the friendliness that I had seen in the Volvagia that I once knew, despite the startling similarities. There was nothing familiar about this beast and I could tell that it wanted to kill me.

"Alright then!" I took the hammer out and raced forward. "For the Gorons!"

This was a mistake. The dragon saw me coming at sent out a breath of fire at me, and while I was able to get out of the way, my left leg was hit by the flame.

I let go of the hammer and screamed in pain as I collapsed to the ground and tried to beat the fire out by rolling on the ground.

"Zelda!" Ivan yelled in panic.

I turned my head and gritted my teeth as the dragon retreated back into the pit. I could feel the skin on my leg burn long after the fire was gone, and I had to fight back the scream I wanted to yell out.

One of the pits nearby me started to erupt, and I was forced to scrambled to get up as Volvagia bursted out of the pit and towards the ceiling. He breathed fire up into the air, before bashing the ceiling with his body and sent the fiery debris crashing down.

I cried out as I quickly took my shield out and blocked off the rocks from my body. Each vibration could be felt, and the ground trembled below me, which I could feel in my leg. I tried my hardest not to cry out, but it was so painful!

Finally, Volvagia retreated back into another pit of lava, and I forced myself to put the shield back, get up, and pick up the hammer.

Perhaps I now had an idea of how Volvagia would eat the Gorons. They would get burned, and he would eat them.

I saw the flames erupt from a far away lava pit, and this time I forced myself into a run at it, no matter how painful it was. Volvagia bursted the upper part of his body out like last time and his brilliant mane flew out, but by then, I had my hammer raised out.

"THIS IS FOR DARUNIA!" I yelled as I brought the hammer down to Volvagia's skull.

The dragon let out a mighty roar as it reared it's head back and collapsed to the ground, but I didn't stop. Once I swung that hammer onto it's head, something possessed me and like a mad man, I kept swinging it down on it's skull, despite the protests in my arms and in my injured leg.

"DON'T! KILL! THEM!"

This monster killed Darunia- there was no denying it.

Saria died and I was too late to save her. This I believed. Darunia died protecting his people, and I was not going to let his death be in vain.

With a final yell, I swung down the megaton hammer with the last of my strength- a strength that I hoped would have made Darunia proud.

The dragon let out a mighty cry and it shot into the air and I watched as it twisted and flailed about, as it's body burned away to reveal it's skeleton, until the head finally dropped right at my feet. The head of Volvagia was still moving- still gasping for air- and it was rather unsettling. Even it's eyes still seemed to contain some sort of life in them.

I gripped the handle of the hammer and stumbled to the ground- I needed to heal my leg, and fast, before something bad would happen to it.

"You did it!" Ivan cheered as I glanced down at the head. "You saved the Gorons!"

"I..." I panted. "I need someone to heal my-"

"L...Li..."

I quit speaking the moment I heard it.

"Li...Link?"

Time froze.

"L...ink?" Volvagia's eyes rolled at me with a very familiar innocence inside them. "Ouch? Link, ouch." Volvagia softly cried out- it sounded as if he was wailing in pain. "Ouuuuch!"

"Vol...Volvagia?" I asked as my heart stopped.

"L...Link!" Volvagia mournfully whimpered to me as his head suddenly bursted into blue flames. "Ooouch!" He cried out one final time, before his remains turned to ash and the fire died as quickly as it came.

All I could hear in the silence was the lava all around me.

No... tell me that I didn't hear that. Tell me I didn't just ignore my fears and killed a friend of Link. Tell me I didn't kill that sweet little dragon that I once held in my arms and adored as Link talked about his hopes of one day teaching him the language of men.

But I did. I killed him.

I grabbed my head and almost tore my hair out as I let out a scream that was almost deafening in my own ears.

My tears began to form and escape from my eyes as I continued to scream out in anger. Anger at myself, and anger at Ganondorf, for what he made me do. What he made Volvagia do.

Why?

Why?

Just... _why?!_

"WHY?!" I screamed as I glanced up to the ceiling. "WHY DID YOU MAKE ME DO IT?! ARE YOU HAPPY, YOU SICK MONSTER?!"

I grabbed my head again and gritted my teeth as the tears kept falling.

"When I see you... when I face you..." I gasped for air and swore as I felt the light envelope me. "I'm going to make you _suffer_. I don't _care_ how... I am _not_ letting you get away with this."

 **-outside-**

Almost all throughout Hyrule, a pillar of fire was seen escaping Death Mountain. Many worried that the inevitable eruption was occurring, but then it seemed to take the gray clouds with it. Everything was sucked away, until the pristine blue sky reappeared, and Death Mountain once again only had a faint cloud ring, instead of an ominous ring.

Everyone- Goron and Hylian- would cheer when they realized what had happened. They would be spared a horrible death, and Hyrule would still be a beautiful land of green.

All but one.

Amongst the cheering crowds of Kakariko Village, there was a blue cloaked figure who remained still, while everyone hollered and praised the Goddesses.

Shadow's red eyes peered through the darkness in the cloak with a sorrow that none would ever see or ever understand. He stared at the mountain for as long as he could, until her turned and shoved his way through the celebrations.

 **-Chamber of the Sages-**

I found myself in the chamber of Sages, where Ivan and I stood face to face with Darunia.

"Thank you!" Darunia was beyond happy. "I really appreciate what you did! On behalf of the entire race, I thank you!"

"But it came with a cost." My voice sounded so broken. Dare I explain the truth? I glanced up to Darunia. "How... how many must...? How many lives must be sacrificed?"

Darunia's smile faded.

"Something went wrong... didn't it?"

"I...I can't ever forgive Ganondorf." I clutched my hands into fists. "I want to kill him. I want to make him feel all that everyone has suffered. He made Volvagia kill you! And I had to-"I gasped for air as my throat began to tighten up with pain from the coming sorrow.

"Calm down." Darunia warned me. "That sort of anger hurts- I know- but it clouds your judgement. You can't let it get it to you."

"Then what should I do?" I asked. "Volvagia would have killed everyone... I had to kill an innocent forced to do an evil man's work."

"You saved him." Darunia simply told me. "You saved the dragon and gave him back his freedom, even if for a moment."

I ran my hands over my face. "At the cost of his life."

"You know, I'd recommend taking a break." Darunia advised me. "Cool your head for a bit."

I glanced up and tried to smile. "The Sage of Fire tells me to cool down?"

Darunia let out a mighty laugh. "That's more like it! A little humor never hurt a soul! You know, I was happy to help you seal the evil here, and I look forward to helping you when the time comes!"

Everything then turned white.

" _Don't forget. You and I are true brothers!"_

 **-?-**

When I was returned to the real world, I could feel that my leg was no longer in pain, but I felt that there was still a lingering scar, as a reminder of what happened today.

And yet, when I finally manage to get back outside, away from the fire and the lava and back into the sun, I couldn't find myself the strength to keep going. I was able to move until I could find isolation in a hidden hole within the mountain, with Ivan at my side, until I could sit down and cry the tears I wanted to shed once more.

I cried for the unfairness of my destiny. I cried for the loss of the living. I cried for a dragon who had much potential, only for it to be wrongfully taken away.

Ivan had nothing to say as he stayed my by side. Instead, he floated to me, and I could feel him rest on my shoulder and reassuringly rest his body against my cheek as I allowed myself to quit being the hero for just one moment and mourn what was lost.

* * *

 **The chanting is a nod to the music of the Fire Temple, which was edited out in later versions of the game, due to protest from the religion it barrows from.**


	9. Water, Romantic Rivals, and Darkness

Fixed an awkward error in chapter 7 involving the Phantom of the Opera parody and an exchange between a sword and fairy.

I feel like I must have a heart of stone because writing out the inevitable in the last chapter didn't make me cry, although it was still depressing to do it (And there's even _more_ inevitable tragedy in store in this fan fic). I admit that it was amazing just how many of you wanted Ganondorf dead after I got the reviews back and I really appreciated those reviews. Hopefully when the time comes, he'll get his due punishment.

Still, if you thought _Zelda_ having to kill Volvagia was bad, read the manga in which _Link_ has to do it (and guess who is telling him he has to do it, just to make things worse.)

Thank you for sticking with this fan fic- hopefully the rest will not disappoint you.

 **HeroAlexa249:** I don't want to believe that theory myself, but it unfortunately made a lot of sense, especially when you consider what might have happened to the five non-Hylian races during Wind Waker. The only problem is that the theory states that you have to be dead in order to become a sage, and yet the seventh sage is clearly alive and well... unless there was something she didn't tell us or Link. (The Royal Family lineage continued _somehow_ , if WW was any indication.)

 **mysteriousguy898:** It's not clear if Ganondorf undid the mind control, or that Volvagia was free in his final moments, but either way, Ganondorf is a great big jerk. (I think he actually enjoyed what happened in the manga.)

 **Deanna Saber:** Were you able to invoke your vengeance upon Ganondorf? I admit, I wasn't expecting that reaction, but it must have felt incredibly satisfying. Canon aside, we'll see if he suffers in this fic for his actions.

* * *

 **Chapter 9:Water, Romantic Rivals, and Darkness**

I saw Malon exit the stables as I rode Epona into the ranch, and initially she was beaming in joy and hurried to greet her old friend when we came to a stop. I slowly got off Epona as Malon petted her forehead, and when she turned to face me, her joy evaporated and was replaced with shock.

I was covered in dirt and ash, and I still wore the Goron's tunic over my clothing. My hair was a mess and I could still feel my own sweat clinging to my body. My leggings were dirty, but there was a huge hole that revealed the burn I sustained from Volvagia for all the world to see.

"Zelda?!" Malon gasped. "Wh-what happened?!"

Wordlessly I stumbled towards my friend while trying to think of something to say, but my mind went blank and as soon as I was close enough, I collapsed against her and I would have stumbled into the ground, had Malon not wrapped her arms under mine in time.

 _ **-that night-**_

That night, I was granted the small mercy of a bath and a new set of leggings, curtesy of Malon. When I was finished, I was able to go down stairs and find her at the stove while quietly talking to Ivan, who must have explained everything in my absence.

They sensed my approach, and turned to find me in a loose night shirt and pants. My hair was still wet, but I could have cared less, and I sat at the table and gave them a quiet glance. The smell of food filled the room and my hollow stomach was growling out for it.

"Hungry?" Malon asked. "You're lucky: it's stew and bread tonight."

"I'd... like that." I nodded, and Malon quickly served me a portion that would have fed two men, but I could have cared less as I wolfed it all down, and finished it up with Lon Lon milk, while Malon silently ate her own portion, and didn't speak until my bowl was empty.

"I told her everything so far." Ivan finally spoke. "There's no need for you to go through it again."

"I'm really sorry." Malon gave me a pitying glance. "You've gone through a lot in such a short amount of time. I don't know how I can help you- I wish there was something I could do." She sighed in frustration.

"Just having someone who cares that much is more than enough." I managed to smile for the first time in what felt like ages. Malon was a pure hearted soul, and I was proud to have her as a friend. "Thank you."

"So anyway," Ivan turned to Malon. "Word has it that someone brought your father back to the ranch."

"Indeed he did." Talon emerged into the house from outside, as if on cue. He shot us a smile behind his great big mustache (beard?) and went over to the stove to get himself some dinner. "Queer man, he was, but he was very insistent on helping me get back to my daughter: he said that he owed me. Anyway, he kept his word, and I was able to get my Malon back." He gave his daughter a relieved smile.

"And Ingo?" I pressed. Both father and daughter suddenly looked uncomfortable.

"Uh..." Malon bit her lip. "The man took him into the tower across the corral. We don't know exactly _what_ happened, but there was some strange noises and a lot of screaming."

"And when Ingo came out, his clothes were torn up and he looked as if he saw Demise in the flesh." Talon muttered as he sat down. "I tried to ask, but Ingo will suddenly get spooked and try to busy himself if you do."

"...What in Farore's name did Shadow _do_ to him?" Ivan was as mystified as I was. "I mean, jeez, it sounds like he changed your ranch hand from tyrant to mouse in no time flat."

"Ingo is a lot nicer now." Talon admitted before he started to eat. "At least he has the sense to keep away from Malon and the animals for the time being, but I'm wondering if I should let him go or not."

"That aside, you should probably get some sleep." Malon began. "You look like you need it."

I smiled again as I played with my spoon, but as I thought of Shadow, I could hear his words in my mind, reminding me of where I must go next: _One under a vast lake._

"Malon?" I asked as I glanced up. "What's under Lake Hylia?"

Malon was surprised by this, but Talon answered. "The Zora's have a temple under the large isle in the middle of the lake. Supposedly they send their young there for training, and to protect their valuables, but no one really knows what it's purpose is for."

"I need to go there." I explained. "Perhaps I might stop by the domain and pay the Zoras a visit."

Ivan groaned. "That mean's we'll have to tell with the royal pain in the butt again. Gods, I hope she got better over time."

Malon and Talon gave us a strange look- one that hinted that there was going to be bad news. "What?" I asked. "What is it?"

"About the Zora's domain..." Malon began.

 _ **-the next day-**_

True to Malon's word, Zora's River was a lot colder than I remembered and there was snow falling from the Domain, despite that it winter was still far off in the future.

I found myself thankful for the wool lined poncho and long sleeved gloves that Malon had provided for me- they gave me easy access to my sword and my belongings, but as I continued to get closer to the domain, it still didn't feel like it was enough and the cold seeped through my tights and bit at my legs.

When Ivan and I entered the domain, we were greeted with a horrible sight: true to word, the domain's water was completely frozen over. The once majestic waterfall was now a huge column of ice, and the pleasing roar had vanished into a haunting silence. The waters down below the pathway was frozen solid, but we were greeted with a horrible sight.

"Oh sweet Farore!" Ivan gasped in horror and I put a hand to my mouth as my heart stopped.

Under the block of ice was what appeared to be the whole of the Zora tribe. Each one was forever frozen in a moment of panic as they tried to escape from their prison, while others were huddling close to their families.

"Curse him!" I hissed as tears threatened to form in my eyes. "Curse him for what he's done!"

"Let's see what else has happened." Ivan cautiously decided as he flew towards the king's chamber. I forced myself to turn from the tragic sight and followed Ivan up the pathway.

We found the king frozen on his perch in what appeared to be a block of red ice. He was exactly as I remembered him, and yet I found it odd that his prison was red, instead of the cold pale sheet below us.

"Ok, I know this is a bad time for me to say this, but I'm honestly not surprised that he's frozen in the exact spot we left him in." Ivan confessed. "It just proves me right that the guy was too fat to get up and run away."

" _Ivan_!" I hissed.

"Actually, he's sort of right."

Ivan and I turned to see a familiar cloaked figure emerge from the pathway behind us. He flipped his hood off to reveal his face, and while it seemed that some of the mirth returned to his eyes, there was still a sense of loss in them.

"Hey princess." Shadow greeted me with a wave.

"Shadow? What are you doing here?" I asked in surprise.

"I came back to take care of a few things." Shadow glanced at King Zora. "As you can see, Ganondorf froze the Zora's inside their own home. I was able to get the princess out of here, but she's off doing her own thing at their temple. Meanwhile, I need your help to get a few things from across Jabu-Jabu's domain."

"You need _our_ help?!" Ivan snapped. "You've done jack! Where was the help we could have used back in the last two temples?! Do you know that people have died because we weren't fast enough?!"

Shadow's red eyes dimmed and he looked away in regret. "I know... I'm sorry."

"So why should we help you?" I asked with some uncertainty.

"Because this guy owes you a favor, and in order to get ahead, you need to free him." Shadow jabbed a thumb at him. "However, considering that the water in the domain hasn't completely frozen over, I'm giving you a hand." He then walked up the pathway to Jabu-Jabu's domain, and I was forced to follow him in confusion.

When we got close enough, I saw that there was still a part of the domain that was composed of water, but this was where Shadow suddenly stopped and walked towards me.

"Get on my back." He commanded and knelt down for me.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because I don't want you to catch hypothermia or get a frost bite. You know how when you get wet, you get cold when exposed to the air? Yeah, I can't risk that."

"And what about you?" I demanded.

"The cold can't bother me: I'm not made like you." He then undid the mirror at his side and handed it to me. "By the way, could you hold onto this? If it breaks, I'm doomed."

I had no choice but to obey his wishes. As soon as the mirror was safe in my pouch, I got on Shadow's back and he proceeded to carry me piggy back style.

"Ever been given a piggy back ride, princess?" He asked me.

"When I was smaller." I confessed as a part of me marveled at being pressed against his back. I believe that this was the closest I had ever been physically close to a boy, since I could feel him under my arms- well, other than getting in fights with Mido or when I kissed Link. I easily gripped Shadow's cloak and was amazed at the touch, but all the while, my face was starting to feel red as I realized how much I was enjoying this. I decided that... well... maybe being carried by a guy wasn't such a bad thing. It was nice to be the one carried around for a change.

I had a feeling Ivan felt the opposite as he trailed behind us.

I watched as Shadow walked though the water and we emerged into Jabu-Jabu's domain, where an eerie sight meet our eyes. There was no sign of the guardian deity, but instead there were many blocks of ice floating in the water, and the snow was quietly falling down around us as the temperature dropped to an alarming rate.

"Wh-what happened?" I asked and saw my breath come out in a white fog.

"Ganondorf got to Jabu-Jabu." Shadow's voice contained discomfort. "Let's just say that all of his underlings feasted on fish until their bellies nearly bursted, and leave it at that."

I suddenly felt queasy at the implication, and even Ivan made a disgusted sound.

"Come on." Shadow continued on as my grip on him tightened up: the quicker we left this place, the better.

Shadow finally took me to the alter and gently set me down on the ground. I glanced out to see where Jabu-Jabu used to be, only to see the empty body of water- it felt extremely unsettling as if this place was haunted.

"Can I have the mirror back?" Shadow asked. When I obeyed and it was back at his side, he grabbed a hold of me.

"Take a deep breath and don't freak out." he warned me before looking at Ivan. "Hey Ivan- hold onto your companion, we're going for a ride."

"Uh... ok?" Ivan obeyed and attached himself to my hair.

Shadow turned to me and I then saw the dark mass that made up his body surround us. I must have looked too uncomfortable because Shadow reassuringly said, right as we became engulfed in complete darkness:

"It's ok, Zelda- trust me."

I shut my eyes tightly and felt my body fall forward, before whatever was surrounding me leapt forward and sent me lurching outward, before it landed on something.

"WHAT THE HECK?!" Ivan yelled in panic.

It didn't stop there: as soon as we landing, we lurched forward again, until we hit something, and it kept going for a certain number of times.

My stomach flip-flopped, and I had no idea of when we would stop, until it ended as fast as it had began.

I finally felt myself stand in an upright position and I opened my eyes to see the darkness retract back into Shadow, who still kept a hold on me and kept his red eyes upon mine. When he finally looked more like the form I was used to seeing, he let out a sigh and let go off me.

"That wasn't bad, was it?" He cheerfully asked as he headed into the cavern behind me.

"Yes it was!" Ivan snapped as I looked to see that Shadow had taken us across several blocks of ice and all the way to the other side of the domain. Or, to be more accurate, he must have shifted forms into something that would hop across the blocks of ice.

Wordlessly, I turned around to follow Shadow.

 **-the ice cavern-**

The ice cavern was even colder than the outside, and I silently followed Shadow as we made our way through several traps and ice monsters who threatened to ensnare us in ice with their freezing breath.

"So, question." Ivan began. "why do you keep calling my companion a princess?"

"Because she reminds me of one." Shadow gave me a well meaning smile- his hood was flipped off, so I could see him clearly. "If I didn't know any better, I would think that she was one."

Curse my blushing face.

"Second question." Ivan sounded annoyed by the answer. "What's with that form? You can shape shift, and yet you chose... _that_ one." There was no denying the suspicion in his voice.

"Eh, I saw the owner of the original form from somewhere, liked it, modified it a bit, and presto!" Shadow made a dramatic gesture to his form. "I'm fond of this body, so be thankful I didn't chose something awkward or hideous."

"So that dark stuff you turn into is your real body?" Ivan pressed.

"You know, I think y'all need to hold off the interrogation." Shadow huffed. "I said that you guys shouldn't trust me, so-"

"Why? Why shouldn't we, if you're helping us out?!"

"Because I have a part to play in this whole mess, and you can't rely on me for everything."

We kept walking, and I examined the cavern, until Shadow spoke up.

"So I heard what you had to do at the Fire Temple." Shadow somewhat hesitantly began. "Was killing a dragon all that it was cracked up to be?"

"I hated it." I hissed through my teeth and huddled my arms. "Volvagia belonged- was a friend to someone I knew. I can't believe Ganondorf was cruel enough to make either me kill him or let the Gorons be killed by him. How could he do something like that to such a sweet and innocent creature?!"

"Because Ganondorf wants to make everyone suffer." Shadow merely replied, though I could sense anger in his voice. "You've seen what he's done so far. He's like a child who want's to gloat at everyone just how powerful he is, and bullies them into submission if he won't have his way. He is the complete opposite of what a true ruler should be."

"Why?" I demanded in anger. "What did we do to anger him?! Why do we deserve this?"

"I... I honestly wish I knew." Shadow admitted. "He's never been fond of Hyrule, from what I know. Maybe he feels like he's getting what is rightfully his, but too many people are suffering for it."

"I hate him." I hissed. "I hate that he's turned me into a murderer, I hate that he's allowed the death of so many people, I hate that he's making everyone suffer! I want to kill him!" I slammed my fist into the rock wall as hard as I could. In retaliation, a few icicles fell from the ceiling, and Shadow quickly pushed me out of the way before they fell on us.

"Idiot!" He hissed as soon as I was safe. "Your anger is going to kill you!"

"So?!" I demanded. "What if I am?! It's better than letting things happen and cowering in fear! At least I'm doing _something_ to stop him!"

"Not if you let your anger get to you!" Shadow griped my shoulders with an alarming amount of strength. "If your mind is clouded in revenge, you'll lose your way and fail! Believe me, I know what you are going through! But I can't let myself get angry, because it won't do either of us any good!"

"And what reason do you have to hate Ganondorf?!" I snapped at him. " _I'm_ the one who has to go through several temples, find the sages, and put myself through danger at every turn! I have to sustain the injuries and the sadness for the sake of this kingdom! What the heck do you have to sacrifice to protect this kingdom, Shadow?! Did _you_ lose seven years of your life for the greater good?!"

"He took away _everything_ from me!" Shadow hissed as his eyes began to burn. "It's because of him I fell on this path! It's because of him that I was created in the first place! Can you imagine what it's like to never be able to walk in the sun amongst those you cherish and know that it's because of choices beyond your control?! He ruined my life and several other lives too, princess, so don't you dare think that you're all on your own on this!"

"None of them have to go what I go through!" I snapped back. "What could they possibly give me back in return, once I'm done with Ganondorf?!"

"Do I look like a bloody magician?! I'm risking my own neck to help you out! I had to risk my sanity and endure my own demons to make sure Ganondorf won't try to get ahead of you again! I had to make sacrifices, for the sake of everyone else, and that includes you too, so quit thinking your a special case, wake up, and quit acting like a child!"

"I'm a ten year old in a seventeen year old body, how could you expect me to do that?! Oh, that's right, because no one told me that I would be sealed away for seven years!"

A silence fell amongst us after my furious voice echoed around us, and I could only imagine what it must have looked like: a young woman in the hands of a creature of darkness. Each one staring at each other with hatred towards a common enemy, but also angry at each other. Our breath clouds merged together into one, and neither of us paid any heed to what was around us.

Each of us carried a burden we had to bear, and yet we could only barely understand what those respective burdens meant.

Finally Shadow let go of me. "Don't you dare pity me until this is all over. I promise I won't do the same." He swore as he continued on.

We went deeper into the caverns and solved the riddles in a tense silence. When Shadow found blue flames, he gathered them up into several bottles and gave them to me to carry. "It's for the red ice- it's the only thing that'll melt it." Was all he was able to tell me- it was the only thing he told me in the duration of our time within the caverns.

Ivan seemed to glance at each other once in awhile. I could sense he wanted to say something, but didn't know exactly what. The whole matter must have been awkward to him, but I was not in the mood for reassuring him. For all I knew, he was probably happy to see that I had gotten in an argument with Shadow.

Finally, we entered a beautiful room, where the black walls reflected a dazzling array of colors amongst the ice crystals. It almost took my breath away as I stood in silent observation, while Shadow approached the sole chest in the middle of the room and took out a pair of what appeared to be boots with iron built into them.

"You'll need these where you are going." He handed them over to me, and my hands practically dropped to their sides from the weight of them. I quickly put the boots in my pouch, before Shadow finally spoke.

"Look, I'm sorry. I've been on edge for the past few days... and it's easier for me to snap at everyone lately." He crossed his arms over his chest and bit his lip as he tried not to look into my eyes. "Anyway, as I said before, I got the princess out of here, but she had no idea who it was: I used a disguise as a precaution. So, this ice is created by a curse from the monster that dwells in the Water Temple under Lake Hylia and you can guess how you need to stop it."

He unraveled his arms and took out the golden harp from before and began to play a slow tune on it. "Time passes, people move... Like a river's flow, it never ends." He murmured over the notes. "A childish mind will turn to noble ambition. Young love will become deep affection... clear water reflects growth..."

The song calmed whatever storm still lingered inside me. Music was the only way in which I could dare try to respond back to Shadow, and I needed the music as if it were an ointment, for everything that was happening.

As he played the song, I took the Ocarina of Time out and merged it's notes with those of the harp. The music calmed me down and I could feel the anger and the tense atmosphere that had fallen upon us fading away.

We played in perfect harmony, him and I: as if it was always meant to be, and yet I couldn't imagine why. Instead, I just let the music sweep us away until all that remained was a solo upon the ocarina, and when I realized this, I put it away.

"The Serenade of Water." Shadow murmured as he lowered his harp. He then let out a chuckle. "Ruto was right: it's not just a song of love."

"What?" I glanced at him in confusion, but Shadow put the harp away and walked to my side.

"Come on, we're getting out of here." He told me. "There's a small body of water under us and we have to get through it to escape. I'm not letting you die out there, so take a deep breath for me."

"Oh not again." Ivan groaned as he held onto me, while Shadow held me close to him.

And for the second time, I was taken on a wild ride, thanks to my dark guardian. I could hear rushing water pass through the cocoon that was protecting me, before it rose out and suddenly plummeted off something and it didn't stop for even a moment. I could tell that we were back outside, when the same hopping movement happened again, and then it rushed down and splashed through the water, until finally all went silent.

Once again I was propped back up on my feet, and I opened my eyes to see the darkness retreat back into Shadow, who cracked his neck.

"Does it hurt when you do that?" I asked as I felt Ivan felt go of my hair and mutter a few words.

"Not really." Shadow shrugged before continuing. "You go and free the king- there's a shop that's covered in red ice, so there might be another Zora or two who was spared."

He turned to leave and walked past the king, but then he turned and waved. "I'll see y'all later."

He changed his form into the dark mass, which then sped off, before I could react or ask him to stay.

"Well, let's go free the king." I muttered and released the blue flames onto the ice. Within no time flat, King Zora's prison melted into water, and he free to shake his body out and blink.

"Ughaaawha-?" He glanced around in confusion, but I leapt off his perch and onto the audience platform, where I could face him. "Did-did you save me?"

"Yes." I replied. "I heard about what has happened in the domain, and I intend to enter the temple to save your people."

"...You're the girl who saved my Ruto." The King was in awe. He then let out a laugh. "Of course it would be you who would save us!"

"Your daughter went to the Water Temple." I pressed. "I can help her, if you tell me what I must do."

The king sobered up at the mention of this. "She did what?" He sighed. "That girl keeps getting herself into trouble. I fear that she has taken it too far, if the temple is under the curse."

"Young lady." He said. "There is a garment that will allow you to breath underwater. I shall give it to you out of gratitude, but I expect that you use it in your mission, and help my daughter in any way possible at the temple. Without this, you cannot be able to navigate the temple like we do."

"Thank you, your majesty." I curtseyed. "I shall do what I can."

 **-Lake Hylia-**

"Oy, oy, oy." Ivan grumbled as I changed out of my outer clothing and into a beautiful blue tunic. "I still can't believe we have to help that family out."

I glanced to the lake, which was almost completely dried up, with the exception of a small body of water around the largest isle. It had taken us quite a bit of time to get here, and night was steadily falling- it was either now, or never.

I entered the water as soon as I was close enough and dove in. To my surprise, the tunic clung to my skin and before I knew it, I could feel as if I could breathe freely in the water, though it felt as if I had some sort of unseen air bubble around me.

I really don't understand how Zora magic works, ok? I had no clue how any of this was possible, and I wouldn't be surprised if Ivan was trying to figure out the logic behind it.

I turned to face Ivan, who was once again in a bubble and I giggled before turning to the gate to the temple. I noticed a strange gem set up above it and, having a big suspicion, I took the hook shot out and pulled the gem out. In retaliation, the gate opened up, and I was able to swim into the water temple.

 **-Water Temple-**

Nothing too eventful happened right away: I was glad to have basic layout in the main room, but I had to sink to the bottom with the boots and worry about the monsters below.

Ugh, I hated that I couldn't use my weapons underwater. I tried pulling the Master Sword out, but the blows were slowed down by the force of the water- the only thing that seemed to ignore the physics was the hookshot.

Also, I regretted that I didn't have a hair tie to pull my hair out of my face. As much as I liked seeing my hair drift through the water around my head, it was going to be a great inconvenience.

When I finally reached the bottom of the temple, there was only one corridor that I was able to access, and I was given a great surprise at the other end: across the chamber was a very familiar looking Zora.

"Ruto?!" I asked.

The Zora turned to face me: not only had her body grown a lot curvier, but her fins had grown, and moved with a sort of grace. She had grown to be a beautiful woman and I felt a twinge of envy: my body was a lot skinnier compared to her.

"Wait a minute..." Ruto tried to recall who I was. "You... you're Zelda, correct?"

"Yes!" I grinned and waved. "It's nice to see you again!" Despite how much trouble she was the last time we crossed paths, I was genuinely happy to see her again and know that she at least remembered me. In return, Ruto gave me a pleased smile that only seemed to add to her charm.

"It's been seven years since we were inside Lord Jabu-Jabu, hasn't it?" She asked. "When we were both competing for the hand of the same man, that is?"

My smile faded. "I wasn't trying to steal Link away from you." I told her. "He was my friend, and I needed to get the stone for him."

Ruto chuckled. "If only we went back to those times. He never did come back to take my hand in marriage, and I assumed he decided to marry you instead."

I let out a noise of protest as I felt my face grow red. What kind of suggestion was that? Boys weren't interested in girls like that! I was positive! And then I remembered that I was grown up and how I was getting different reactions from-

"Enough of that." Ruto decided. "Now is not the time to talk of romantic affairs. I'm sure you saw what happened to Zora's Domain. Somehow, I was rescued, but the others..." She frowned. "They haven't been saved. Not yet. I need to save them- it's the least I can do for them." She gave me a desperate look. "I want to save them! I want to save Zora's Domain! You have to help me- as my last demand to my romantic rival and friend, I need your help! Help me destroy the monster in the temple!'

"How?" I asked, despite my lack of appreciation for being considered a 'romantic rival.'

"There are three places in this temple where you can change the water level." Ruto began. "I'll lead the way- follow me!" And she then proceeded to quickly swim up off the ground and into the upper levels of the temple above us.

"Hey wait!" Ivan yelled, but Ruto went to fast for either of us to catch up and we were forced to be entirely on our own.

"Annnnnd another one doesn't stick with us." Ivan sighed. "Well Zelda, what do you think? How does it feel to see your 'romantic rival' again?"

"Well..." I tried to think. "How do I put it... at least her chest is fatter than mine."

Ivan made a sputtering sound as if he was choking on something and for one moment I thought he was drowning in the water. "Ivan?!"

"Zelda, no- just- _no_." Ivan desperately pleaded. "For my sake, please stop talking about female anatomy. I don't know if I can handle it anymore."

"Why? Her chest is larger than mine, so why should I worry?" I asked with a smile.

"Zelda..." Ivan tried to explain. "Sometimes larger is- you know what, never mind. I can't talk about this right now. Maybe when this is over, someone will explain it, but I cant- I just-" He let out a groan.

I shrugged and swam up to the top, but I kept my eye on my surroundings for future reference. Something told me that I needed to commit this temple's layout to memory.

"That reminds me." I began. "You called Ruto a fish when we were kids, and you said that when I was older, I'd get the joke. Well, I'm older now, aren't I? So what's the joke?"

Ivan sighed. "Fine. The truth is, when I said fish I meant-"

He then told me the word.

"It sounds like it rhymes!" I giggled.

"It's not supposed to be funny Zelda. It's usually a word for a female dog, but people use it to insult woman. It's actually pretty derogatory- err, it's not nice. So don't call anyone that, ok?"

"How did you know that word?" I asked.

"You'd be surprised what kind of people come into the forest." Ivan flatly replied.

 **-later-**

...

...

...

...

...You know, I think Ivan summed up this temple better than I did. These were his little gems:

"Uh, ok, why is the symbol of the Royal Family in this temple? And why is it used to control the water?"

"There was a room under the block this whole time! How did they expect us to figure that one out? Go back all the way down?"

"Why do we have to go up and down with a hookshot when we drain the water, why didn't they build some sort of staircase?!"

"This place has technology more advanced than ours is! How is that they didn't use it outside of this place- they could make a fortune off this stuff!"

"WHERE IS THE WATER RAISING UP FROM?! HOW IS IT NOT FLOODING THE TEMPLE?!"

"Where are the rocks coming from? No seriously, how do they keep appearing in this room?"

"Why do they have spikes everywhere? What's the point of the spikes?!"

"WHY IS THERE A BOTTOMLESS PIT?!"

"WHY THE **** DO WE HAVE TO KEEP PLAYING THE SONG TO FIX THE WATER LEVELS?! WHY COULDN'T THEY JUST USE A LEVER OR SOMETHING?! _'OH NO, WE ZORAS LIKE TO BE TOTAL ******* AND MAKE THINGS MORE COMPLICATED WHILE WE SWIM AROUND AND OUR LEADER LIKES TO SIT ON HIS FAT BEHIND ALL DAY!'_ I ******* HATE THIS PLACE!"

"WHAT ******* PURPOSE IS THIS PLACE SUPPOSED TO HAVE TO THE ZORAS?! SERIOUSLY, WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF BUILDING A TEMPLE FULL OF SPIKES AND A FAULTY WATER SYSTEM?!"

...I think you get the picture.

"I'm sick of this place." Ivan complained as we entered the next room. "I'll take _anything_ after this next one."

I held my hand up to shut Ivan up as I observed the room: this one was different than the others. I could see nothing but a white fog around us, and there was nothing but a large body of water and a lone isle with a dead tree at the center, and what looked like a small building in the distance.

The atmosphere was wrong- something about this room seemed off to me.

"Stay close." I told Ivan as I walked across the water, as If I were walking upon it. I could glance down and my my reflection upon it, but I then glanced up and went past the tree and to the other side of the room, where I found that the building had a door covered with bars. It was nothing new... so why did I suddenly feel goosebumps on my arms?

"A dead end?" I wondered out loud?

"A dead end?" My voice suddenly spoke out from behind me- but I didn't move my mouth and say it!

I turned my head. "Where was that?" I asked Ivan. "That wasn't me just now!"

"That wasn't me just now!"

I finally turned around and saw a faint outline of something shadow like under the tree. At first, it seemed unidentifiable, but it slowly solidified, until it slowly got up- to reveal a perfect copy of myself. Or at least a dark outline of my form and eyes that looked very familiar...

"Shadow?" I asked. "Are you trying to be me again?"

"Shadow are you trying to be me again?" I heard my voice come from my copy.

"Ok, that's super creepy." Ivan spoke out. "What is that thing?"

My copy got up from the tree and drew her sword and shield. I could take the hint and drew mine, and waited to see what she did.

She did the same thing.

I make the first strike and swung my sword at her, but to my surprise, she copied me at the exact same moment, as if she could see into my mind and know when I planned it.

I tried again- and she did the same thing!

"What the... heck?" I swung at her but she copied my move.

"What the... heck?" She asked as she copied another one of my attacks.

Every. Single. One.

"ARGH!" I yelled out in frustration and thrusted my blade at her, but then she did something I wasn't expecting: she leapt up into the air and onto my blade. And as if to add insult to the injury, she danced a small jig upon it and let out a laugh.

"Ok, now your just making me angry!" I growled.

"I'm making myself angry?" She suddenly asked me in a monotonous voice.

That caught me off guard.

"Wh-no, you are making _me_ angry! I am me and you are you!"

"But I _am_ you." She continued. "I am the darkness inside you. I am the shadow that always follows you, wherever you go."

"Shadow, I swear if that's you, I'll smack you one!" Ivan snarled. My copy made no reply, but she gracefully backflipped off my sword.

"What are you?!" I angrily demanded. "Why are you mocking me?!"

" _We_ are angry." She spoke. "We hate Mido, we hate father, we hate the prince, we hate Darunia and Ruto, we hate the Master Sword, we hate the Triforce, we hate Ganondorf-" Her eyes narrowed. "We hate those who have used us and made us question our very existence."

I felt my blood freeze and my skin crawl as she then changed her form. She looked exactly like me now, only her torn clothes were a darker shade of blue and her skin was heavily tanned as her hair was now a wild mess in comparison to my straight hair, but her eyes were still that deep red.

"They made us doubt ourselves." She began. "They turned us into a murderer. They made us into the sacrificial lamb. Did those who claim to help their people help us? No, they did not."

"Cut it out!" Ivan snapped at my clone, but she continued.

"Are we a child still? Are we a woman? What are we Zelda?" She asked. "They weren't there to help us when we needed it. All who care for us suffer... all we care for suffer."

"Zelda, don't listen to her! It's just the dungeon getting into your head!" Ivan yelled.

My copy slowly walked up towards me.

"Let's give into the hate." She suddenly grinned as a crazed look entered her eyes. "Let's kill Link when we see him. Let's kill Ganondorf and stab him through his skull! Or even better- let's chop his head off like when only Volvagia's head was left!" She giggled. "Let's snap the Master Sword in half for sealing us away- who knows what will happen to the next hero in line if they get their hands on it!"

"Shut up!" I hissed.

"Let's take over Hyrule!" She laughed as my head began to ache. "Let's make everyone pay for all they did to us! Let's take the Triforce and become a god amongst men! Let's tear the goddesses from their perch and pierce their hearts! Let's rip the heavens apart and transcend time and reality! We are the true masters of time! We are one and the-"

"SHUT UP!" I yelled and stabbed her with the Master Sword.

My copy let out a strange sound in alarm and glanced down at my blade as her body slowly turned black again.

"...Ah." Her eyes rolled back into her head and she faded from existence until nothing remained. Except for what was left of my sanity. Everything else... seemed to have vanished.

Including my anger.

Time seemed to stop, yet all around me, the whiteness faded to reveal that I was in another chamber of the water temple.

"...What... what was that?" Ivan was as mystified as I was, but I had no idea how to answer him.

Slowly I put my sword and shield away. "Whatever happened..." I tried to reason, but gave up. "...happened."

I turned and walked to the next room.

"Zelda." Ivan finally spoke. "If something like this happens again... don't listen to what they say. I saw her too- whatever this temple is supposed to be, it's doing more harm than good. When we finish, we could do something different for a change... maybe go to that fishing hole-"

"Ivan." I turned to face him and he fell silent.

"Thank you for being there for me." I smiled. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"What you just did wasn't because of me." He told me. "I want to help in any way I can, but the only person who can conquer a dark version of yourself-"

"-Is yourself." I realized.

 **-five minutes later-**

"****ING WHIRLPOOLS!" Ivan screamed.

 **-some (agonizing amount of time) later-**

In one of the final rooms, there was a steep pathway where three spiked contraptions were continually moving left and right, and right at the very top was Ruto.

"Took you long enough!" She scowled at me.

"Well excuse us Princess!" I scowled back. "We don't know this place like you do-"

"No offense, but your people are horrible at architecture!" Ivan cut in. "And how have you been able to get through this place when it's full of monsters?"

"J-j-just hurry up!" Ruto stammered angrily. It took me a few moments to carefully get to the other side (bloody steep pathway and spiked contraptions!) but I finally managed it.

"Ok, am I correct in assuming that the monster is behind this door?" I glanced to said door as I caught my breath.

"Yes." Ruto confirmed. "Morpha is the cause of the curse. Don't underestimate it's size: as long as it's within water, it can control it. It can drag you in and drown any living thing that comes across it."

"So we have to get it out of the water?" Ivan asked. "Ok, that shouldn't be a problem, since we have a hookshot... or long shot." He was referring to the upgrade we found in the room that came after when I faced my dark self.

"Well we'll see." Ruto took a deep breath and opened the door. I took one more breath of air, and Ivan and I followed suit.

The final room contained a huge body of unnatural blue water, with platforms raising up out of it. I took note of the spikes that seemed to line all the walls and realized that we had to be extra careful with what we were going to face.

"Wait a minute." Ivan flew up to the ceiling of the room. "That's not normal water!"

"It's Morpha." Ruto told him. "That water is a part of it."

"Stay here." I commanded to Ruto and leaped across the water and onto the nearest platform. I put my shield away and was forced to put the Master Sword in my left hand, while my right held onto the hookshot.

"Ok- where are you?" I muttered as I glanced around at the water. Where was this Morpha?

"LOOK OUT!"

I quickly turned in time to see a watery tendril waving high above me, with some sort of pink blob in the center: a blob that was easily twice the size of my head. This was Morpha?! After all the creatures I had faced so far, this one seemed underwhelming, but after recalling Ruto's words, I knew that I still had to be cautious.

"Get in a corner and hide!" I yelled at Ruto as Morpha hopped out of it's column of water and hopped across the water. I chased after it and watched at it spiraled around the water until it formed a new tendril.

If I could get it out of the tendril...

"Don't get caught by the water!" Ruto yelled and I briefly lost concentration. I cursed as I quickly took my hookshot out and waited to get a perfect aim-

-only to miss and cause the water to vibrate, before Morpha sank back in the water. This was not going to be easy, was it? It figured that a difficult temple would have a difficult boss fight.

My second try was more successful. I had to get far away from the water when the tendril rose up, but when Morpha rose straight up, I was granted a clear shot and pulled the blob to me. Without wasting any time, I swung my sword right into Morpha, which pulsated in reaction, but still remained unharmed and was able to hop away.

"COME BACK HERE!" I yelled, but I had to move away from the water when it entered it- I could not risk falling into that water, or I was doomed.

Time slowly passed, and the battle seemed to drag on, despite that I had yet to be injured. Morpha was growing equally desperate, and more tendrils of water began to emerge.

Then, it came to the climax, where everything went wrong.

For what felt like the tenth time, Morpha's tendril rose out of the water and I waited for the blob to be level with me I aimed by hookshot, when suddenly I heard a scream and felt something push me to the ground.

I turned my head in time to see that a second tendril was going to come right after me while I was distracted and Ruto pushed herself into the fray and shoved me aside- only to get caught in the path of the tendril, which picked her up.

"RUTO!" I yelled as the watery tendril wrapped itself around her and swung her around in the air.

"JUST GET HIM!" Ruto's yell sounded strangled, as if she was being squeezed to death by the water.

I cursed and glanced around. Where was it, where was it?!

Finally, I saw the pink blob! I decided to do something stupid and dashed towards it. As expected, the blob sensed my presence and created a new tendril to snare me with.

I heard a rushing sound and I heard Ruto suddenly yell as she was thrown across the room, followed by a strange sound that I couldn't identify, but I tried to focus on Morpha instead.

Finally, the blob was where I wanted it, and I took aim with my hookshot. The glorious contraption pulled it out to me, only to met the taste of the Master Sword as steel cut through it's body.

Morpha began to violently pulsate as it rose in the air, and I watched as it finally exploded into water.

"Whoa!"

I glanced around and saw what caused Ivan to react: the water rose up out of the basin in a huge column and up into the ceiling. It made me think of a droplet of water falling in reverse, and the body of water shrank as it evaporated, until it finally became one drop of water that innocently fell to the ground and left behind a blue portal.

"Ugh, finally!" I groaned as I put my things away. I had enough water to last me for a lifetime.

"ZELDA!" Ivan yelled in panic. I turned to where his voice was, to see that he was with Ruto, who was slumped against a wall. I hurried to them, but when I got close enough, I realized why Ivan yelled for me.

Morpha had thrown Ruto in one of the spikes that lined the wall and it pierced through her back and left side. She was still stuck on it, and she had been thrown into it so hard that she was almost three fourths of a way into it.

I immediately knelt beside Ruto, while ignoring the blood that seeped out of her. "We'll get you help!" I swore as I placed a hand on her shoulder.

Ruto moaned and glanced up to me. Her eyes which once seemed so haughty looked tired and weak. She wanted to say something, but it was obvious that she was struggling to do so.

I grabbed her body as carefully as I could and pulled her from the spike. Ruto let out a cry of protest, but I ignored it and pulled with all my might until I finally got her out. Even then, I quickly moved and put my sword and shield in my pouch, so I could do the one thing I had hoped never to do again, if I ever saw her.

"Come on!" I half demanded, half pleaded as I positioned her a certain way and worked to pick her up in a perfect piggy back style, like Shadow had done with me. She was a lot lighter than I had initially suspected and I hoped it wasn't due to the blood loss.

Once more, I was carrying Ruto through a dungeon, but this time, I had a good reason to do so. I could feel that she wasn't holding onto me, and her blood was seeping into my tunic.

I had to hurry. I had to get her to someone- anyone!

I couldn't afford to be gentle, so I hurried across the room and leapt down into the basin. I almost fell over and my legs hurt from the impact, while Ruto let out a whimper, but I gritted my teeth and continued on. I was _not_ going to let another person die!

I hurried to the light as Ivan joined us. "You're going to be fine Ruto!" I told her. "I'll get you a doctor and you'll be healed up!" I felt the light engulf us, and all turned white. "You'll rejoin your tribe and then maybe we'll-"

Suddenly, I could no longer feel her. I was holding onto empty air.

"RUTO?!" I yelled in panic.

And, as per usual, I found myself back at the chamber of sages.

And suddenly, it hit me.

"...No." I weakly spoke.

And yet, it made sense. How could I have not foreseen it?

From a blue medallion, arose the Zora that I was carrying just mere seconds ago. Her hand was on her hip, and she was smiling as if nothing had happened. Her wound was gone, and she was whole... except...

"Zelda..." She grinned. "I would have expected no less from my romantic rival."

"Why did you save me?" I asked. "Because of that, you're-"

"It's fine Zelda." Ruto peacefully held her free hand up in surrender. "I owed you one, remember? Consider it my way of making up for how much of a brat I was to you all those years ago."

"But your father-" I tried to reason. "-Your people- they need you!"

"If my sacrifice means that they will survive the curse and live, then I can at least be satisfied in doing my part as their princess. I have to put others first, don't I? But now I have to guard the water temple as the Sage of Water."

Even though Ruto was content, I still felt guilty that the events had to play out the way they did. Once again, I failed to save someone, when I had a gut instinct that something was off, and now the Zora child who I could barely stand was now a part of that steadily growing number. Who else was going to die for the sake of Hyrule or because of me?

"Hey... are you searching for Link?" She asked.

"Uh-" I was caught off guard by this. "I haven't seen him- I've been focused on finding the temples, but I suppose it _would_ be nice to find him."

Ruto gave me a cheeky grin. "Don't worry- he's alive and well, so don't be discouraged."

Her smile became sad. "You know... a long time ago, I hated the idea of competition for his hand in marriage. Now, I can't ever have a future with him- not when I have a new duty to Hyrule and my people. But Zelda... well... if he chooses you... then you have my blessing."

"I never wanted his hand in marriage." I told her, though I smiled. "I want what's best for everyone. I never regarded you as my rival... though I guess I _was_ a little jealous of you."

Ruto let out a laugh as everything around us turned white.

" _If you see Shadow, please give him my thanks, OK?"_

 _ **-Lake Hylia-**_

I found myself on the isle in Lake Hylia. It looked as if the sun was rising, but I saw a familiar black figure without his cloak staring out at the lake.

"Shadow?!" I asked as I rushed to his side.

"Look." He simply told me: I saw, to my delight, that the water was rising back into the lake and filling it up to the level it was supposed to be at.

"You broke the curse." He sounded pleased. "Ruto must be proud of you."

"About her..." I began. "She... wanted to thank you. I think she knew who saved her."

"She did?" Shadow seemed surprised.

There was a quiet pause between us.

"We have to return peace to Hyrule for her sake too, don't we?" I began as the sky grew lighter in the distance.

"You both defeated the monster, didn't you?" He asked.

"Not without her sacrifice." I quietly spoke.

"...So she was capable of being selfless after all." Shadow mused. "I hated that she was still haughty after all these years, but I'm glad she grew up and was able to do something for her people."

That part interested me. "You knew her?" I glanced in confusion.

"To an extent." Shadow weakly laughed, but it was then that I noticed how familiar his red eyes seemed. They looked an awful lot like my darker self from within the temple.

"Shadow?" I asked. "In the temple, I faced a dark version of myself. That... wasn't you helping me get over my anger, was it?"

Shadow suddenly stopped laughing and his mouth slowly closed.

"Was that you?" I pressed. "If so, why would you go to that extent?"

We stared at each other. It felt like a tension was building around us, and I wanted him to just tell me, so I would know what his true motives were when it came to me.

"Zelda-" Shadow nervously began as the sun finally peaked over the hills of the lake. "-I-"

His eyes suddenly widened and he took in a quick breath and let out a cry of surprise as he collapsed to the ground.

"Shadow?!" I asked in surprise as he let out a horrendous sound from within his being and was violently twitching and shuddering as if in great pain, like a wounded animal, and he was making similar sounds. I could hear a strange sizzling sound, like something being cooked, and his body began to let out a strange smoke. I couldn't immediately understand why, until I remembered: he said he couldn't stay out in the sun.

And this was the consequence, playing out before my very eyes.

"Son of a-!" Shadow let out a string of curses and quickly grabbed the familiar blue cloak out of his mirror with trembling fingers and threw it over himself. With trembling legs, he managed to push himself up and ran off towards the bridge.

"Shadow wait!" I pleaded and threw a hand out, but he ignored me and continued stumbling away from me, and away from the sunlight. I watched him run away from us as fast as he could, and yet I couldn't find it in me to run after him.

I now realized that Shadow could never interact within the world of light as I could. And for whatever reason- even if I couldn't tell whether or not I could trust him- I felt... sad for him.

I turned towards the sunrise and held my hand out towards it. The sunlight felt warm and pleasant, and it reflected of the lake and created beautiful sparkles upon it, as if the water were made of jewels. How could something so wonderful be so painful to Shadow? How could anyone gaze upon the light and draw back in fear from it, when I embraced it's warmth?

Who exactly _was_ Shadow?

* * *

 **...And so, another character gets sacrificed. And unfortunately, since the sage-death theory is in effect, something was bound to happen to Ruto and it was all too easy to figure out how it had to happen.**

 **It would figure that at least Dark Zelda would trip me up in this fic. I had no clue how I could write that part out, since this chapter is more psychological and character driven.**

 **I couldn't think of a way to express the frustrations of the temple through Ivan, other than a reaction compilation. Trust me, I hate this temple, so the lack of attention here wasn't a loss.**

 **The Shadow Temple section might get split into two chapters, but something will happen which I am sure will delight some of you in the early half of the next chapter.**


	10. The hell that is the well

**I loved your guys reactions to the water temple, Dark Zelda, and the shared frustrations, and we are now about to go into a notorious segment of the game, just in time for the month of Halloween... but first:**

 **mysteriousguy898: I think I already answered your comment in a PM. If not, give, me a shout.**

 **Phoenix Champion: Zelda did what at the end of Ocarnia of Time? I didn't get that part of the review.**

 **Persona's Kingdom: I loved writing that mood whiplash. It's all, 'ok, popular mini boss that might have significance in the overall story... oh yeah, the whirlpools that I hate. Almost forgot about them.'**

 **I am debating the use of the Biggoron's Sword. I can see Link using it here, but I have considered and played with what to do if Zelda got her hands on that sword. (And how Ghirahim would react to it, if he was aware of it.)**

 **HeroAlexa249: Ivan is pretty much the voice of everyone's frustrations in this game, which makes him fun to write. Yeah, I assumed something had to happen to Jabu-Jabu. Dark Zelda wasn't easy to write out, but I'm glad I pulled it off.**

* * *

 **Grrrreeeeeetings, readers! Halloween is coming up soon, and what better time to celebrate it, than with a very spooky chapter filled with tricks and treats. But first, let's play that shop music from the game as we ask the age old question to all of Hyrule:**

 _If you feed cows chocolate, can you get chocolate milk?_

-Zelda-

"That's what I keep wondering!" Zelda told the interviewer who held a microphone towards her. "Is that possible?"

-Ivan-

"...You got to be kidding me. What kind of stupid question is that? If we ate fish, would we turn into fish? If we ate an orange, would we pee out orange juice?!"

-Young Link-

As Link held Volvagia, he had a serious debate on whether or not that was possible.

-Young Volvagia-

"Link!"

-Random villager-

"Uh... actually I'm lactose intolerant."

-Random Townsperson-

"I'm chocolate intolerant."

-Darunia-

Darunia couldn't stop laughing. "You got to be kidding me, right?!"

-Liam-

"Wrong fan fiction, buddy." Liam told the interviewer as he readied a spell at an oncoming monster.

-Shadow-

"Well, I suppose that depends." Shadow rubbed his chin and gave the interviewer a cheeky grin. "Do you like white... milk... or _dark_?"

-Mido-

"Get that thing out of my face!"

"What he said, butt-hole!" Bark added.

-Master Sword-

No comment. The Master Sword was unable to give a reply.

-Random Deku scrub businessman-

"You mean those nasty looking spotted things? They have no economical worth to us! I mean, sure, they have multi-uses for Hylians, but what could a Deku scrub do with it?-

-Ganondorf-

As Ganondorf played the shop music on the organ, he only said this.

"If you value your life, you will leave my castle, before I crush your skull in."

-Ruto-

"Is that even possible?"

-Lake Professor-

"Hmm... that possess a lot of scientific possibilities."

-Random child-

"We just tried that! We feed Daisy a bag of chocolate chips!"

-Daisy the cow-

"Oh gods... my stomach... please kill me..."

-Talon-

*Talon was dead asleep when we tried to speak with him.*

-Ingo-

"You can't!"

-Malon-

"Uh... no." Malon shuddered as she petted one of the cows. "That's not how it works."

-Random Cuccoo-

*We were not able to get any footage, but we could hear a lot of clucking, flapping wings, and the interviewer screaming for his mommy. This was when we concluded the interview.*

-AND NOW BACK TO OUR REGULAR PROGRAM-

* * *

 **Chapter 10: The hell that is the well**

"What did Shadow say?" I asked Ivan as I rode Epona back to Kakariko Village, while trying to figure out where to go next. "One in the house of the dead?"

"Ugh." Ivan groaned. "Please, for the love of Nayru, tell me that he's not implying that the next temple is somewhere where there's dead bodies. It's bad enough that we had to deal with the water temple."

"Well, it could be a lot worse." I pointed out as I began to approach Lon Lon Ranch. "Let's just try to find out where the next temple is and ask for help." I glanced to the sky and noticed that the clouds seemed darker than usual over Kakariko Village and it took me a few moments to realize that it was smoke from a large fire.

"Epona, go!" I made the mare get up to speed and she galloped past the ranch.

"Whoa, whoa, where are you going?!" Ivan yelled at me.

"Something's wrong at the village!" I yelled back.

When I reached the stairs to the village, I kicked Epona so that she could go up them, despite her protests, and as we hurried up, I could hear screaming from a distance. Unfortunately, my worst fears were confirmed the moment I passed through the entrance to the village.

The first house I saw was on fire as a blaze covered up it's roof and produced one of the many smoke clouds that began to join with the other buildings that were set on fire and turned the once blue sky into an ominous grayish black. People were frantically running around to either put the fires out or get themselves and others to safety at the entrance of the village.

"What's happening?!" I yelled to a nearby villager coming towards me as I quickly got off my house.

"It's the demon!" He yelled. "He's trying to escape!"

"Where's Lady Impa?!" A woman yelled as she ran to get her small daughter and the infant in her arms to the entrance of the town where it was safe.

"Impa?!" Ivan asked. "The Prince's guardian is here?!"

A part of me was relieved, and even hopeful at the idea of finding Impa again, but another was more concerned with the fate of the village and I rushed out, past the panicked villagers, and the burning houses, until I saw a very familiar cloaked figure standing at the well.

"Shadow?!" I yelled as I raced on to join his side, but the moment I was right next to him, he turned to face me, His red eyes were glowing in the darkness of the hood of his cloak, but there was a strong sense of alarm in them.

"Get out of here!" He snapped at me and I flinched. "Get out before he comes!"

"Before _who_ comes?!" I demanded.

And without any warning, the wooden beam that was over the well suddenly ripped itself out of the ground and went high up in the air until it flew over us and the set of stairs and it crashed to pieces upon the ground.

"What the heck?!" Ivan let out a panicked yell.

I heard a strange sound, like the wind rushing, mixed with something unnatural.

"ZELDA RU-"

I turned in time to see that Shadow was suddenly lifted into the air like the wooden beam. I watched in horror as he was suddenly tossed around and was spun over the well like a child wildly swinging a doll by it's legs. It was a miracle that he wasn't yelling out in a panic.

And then something happened that shook me to the core: I heard a voice that sounded cross between a moan and deep singing, which echoed out from the well.

" **YoU CaNT hIDE thE lIGhT WiThIn tHE ShaDoW, bOy. ThErE Is OnLY ShAdOw, WiTHin aND ArOunD yOu."**

Shadow's cloak was suddenly torn off his frame and he was tossed over me. This time he did let out a yell as he soared overhead and crashed into the wooden debris on the ground, but there was no longer anything to protect his body: though the sky was being covered with smoke, the sun was still peering out and touching his body, and Shadow was already writhing in pain from the contact.

"SHADOW!" I yelled and gathered his cloak in my hands as I quickly rushed to his side, but before I could throw it over his body, another sound met my ears: it was that rushing sound again, but the sound was now intensified with a high pitched noise.

I turned in alarm to see something black pool out of the well and proceed to quickly crawl up the nearest burning building. It warmed at a speed I could almost barely keep up with as it made it's way around the village and I could hear even more terrified screaming from the villagers.

All the while, I could hear Shadow screaming out in pain. I only had enough time to look and see that his body was giving off smoke, and that patches of his skin were turning black, before I automatically threw the cloak over him without covering up his whole body and turned to face the darkness that was coming towards me.

"Alright, here we go." I muttered as I took my sword out.

"Uh, Zelda, we don't know what it is!" Ivan frantically protested as it came closer.

"DONT!" Shadow almost shrieked out. "STOP, YOU IDIOT!"

But it was too late. The darkness was now just feet away and I got my sword ready, when suddenly I felt something grab me around my torso and chest and I was lifted into the air by some unseen force, like Shadow before me.

I let out a surprised yelp as I felt the squeeze tighten on me and I frantically tried to swing my sword at whoever it was, but then I felt my body slowly grow cold and I found that it was getting harder to breathe.

" **So wE MeEt AgAin, LiTtLe GoLD haIrEd GiRl."** The voice angrily hissed. **"I'Ve bEEn WaITiNG sEVeN yEaRs FoR THiS mOMEnt!"**

And then, I was thrown to the ground- not once, but three times.

I was given no time to breath or any time to scream and each throw was more painful than the last, and the grip loosened when I was raised high up to the air, before it tightened up upon impact. I couldn't even hear the screams of my companion as my mind was too clouded by what was happening to me.

Unfortunately, it didn't stop and I was then smacked against the walls of the buildings until finally my head collided against something and my world turned black.

-normal POV-

When the monster was finished with it's prey, it tossed her up in the air, before she landed on the ground in a disgraceful heap and she remained still, like a lifeless doll.

" **hctiW hAkiEhS eHt!"** The voice suddenly cursed in pure hatred.

The monster retreated away to the left of Shadow's vision and he already knew where he was going, but he could care less. His focus was entirely on the still form before him.

"ZELDA!" Ivan screamed and flew to his companion's side. The poor guy had to watch his friend get tossed around before she landed a foot or two away from them and it was equally horrifying to the dark being: within mere moments, the Hero of Time had been reduced to nothing.

Shadow was aware just how much pain he was in and most of his arms and legs had been exposed to the sun, but the damned thing in the sky had finally been covered up by the clouds and it began to rain in that very the moment. He gritted his teeth as he pulled the cloak over his shoulders and began to crawl over towards Zelda when he sensed a presence behind him.

He turned to see Impa running towards them from around the shooting gallery and she was about to get past the well and move towards them.

Before Impa could get any closer, Shadow threw a protesting hand out at her and shot her a warning glare as he panted for air. His clothes looked singed and his fingers were blackened: he could easily see why Impa wanted to run to him, but the charade had to be kept up, no matter how much he desired for someone to confide with.

Without even changing her expression, Impa quietly turned her attention back to the well.

Shadow turned back and struggled to forcefully crawl through the grass and towards the girl, despite how badly his body was shaking under the protection of the cloak. The burns tightened up his skin and irritated him with each movement- he could barely move his legs, for Din's sake!- and he felt like he could barely breathe.

He finally reached her side, and carefully placed a shaking hand on her shoulder: the beautiful angel had been thrown onto her back and was now facing the rain filled sky. The droplets hit against her snow white skin and faint pink lips, and her legs were tangled, while her hair was sprayed out under her and on her face. She looked more like a corpse that had lost it's life within a day's time and this thought pulled at Shadow's heart in a powerful way.

"Zelda!" Ivan cried as he flew to his companion's head. "Zelda wake up!"

"She needs... a potion." Shadow's voice came out in a rasp. He glanced up to Ivan- from under the safety of the cloak and hood, his face suffered several dark marks and his inhuman eyes contained a panic and sorrow that caught Ivan off guard.

"Get the potion shop owner.. and tell him to make a blue potion, for double the amount, or else the shadows will kill him in his sleep!" Shadow hissed before wincing. It took all his strength to say those words together and it hurt him on the inside.

Ivan wordlessly flew out, without even hesitating.

At the same time, Shadow glanced to see that Impa had finished casting a spell upon the well. She looked up to give him one silent, but knowing look, before she made her way towards where the monster went.

Shadow turned his attention back to Zelda.

Her sapphire blue eyes were open, but they appeared lifeless and devoid of the spark that he was drawn to. Shadow carefully placed his head over her chest and almost cried out in joy at hearing the faint beating of a heart. Despite what she had endured, her body was still fighting to survive.

He struggled to push himself up to look at Zelda again. Slowly, his hand reached out and his still twitching and blackened fingers gently, yet almost shyly caressed her jawline.

"I... can't... give you... up." Shadow panted to the sleeping girl. "I've lost... so much... Hyrule needs you-" He gasped for air before he could plead. "-I _need_ you."

Slowly, he struggled to get himself into a sitting position and he reached his arms under her shoulders and carefully pulled her up into his lap.

"Please." Shadow quietly begged to the girl in his arms as he slowly felt some of his ability to breath and speak properly return back to him. "Please... wake up. I'm scared- I don't know what I can do to help them if you die. You give them strength, in spite of everything you've... you've suffered too much for it to end like this... you don't deserve-"

He moved her hair from her face as he caressed it, but this time, there was no shyness. He felt much bolder (to his bitter amusement) when despair was on the horizon.

"Please stay alive." He pleaded. "Please-"

An overwhelming desire flooded his senses. He had felt that urge since he was a certain age, but he never understood it. But now- with this wonderful girl in his arms- he now knew what it was and what it meant. He couldn't suppress it anymore, even if it meant certain doom for all of Hyrule- because he now knew, with all his heart, just how important this girl really was to him.

"Princess-" He wheezed and corrected himself and spoke her name as if it were breathing air and yet as if it were sacred. "-Zelda." He smiled. " _My_ Zelda."

And so, with trembling arms, he carefully raised her towards him, and he lowered his face to hers until his lips connected to hers.

All around them was rain and pandemonium from the villagers, but none would pay heed to the dark being as he kissed the girl whose fate was tied to them all and especially to him. As the drops of rain hit against his cloaked back and her exposed body, it seemed that time, for once, stopped for them, and it was kind as it was cruel.

Slowly, Shadow's hand ran though Zelda's hair as his kiss deepened. He gave her his whole heart in the simple action and yet her lips remained immobile- unable to return his secret affections.

For seconds more, his lips lingered on hers: he didn't want this moment to end, no matter how much it gave him bliss as it gave him pain.

Finally, Shadow pulled away from Zelda and gave her a sad glance as he slowly, but gently placed her back on the ground.

"I was hoping that a kiss would wake you up, just like in the fairy tales." He confessed with slight bitterness. "But that's not in our fate, is it? It's not joined together like that."

-Zelda's POV-

Every part of my body hurt as I regained consciousness. I could hear rain, and the sound of a familiar harp playing a haunting melody.

My vision came into focus and I could see Ivan floating above my head, while Shadow was sitting cross legged as he was lost in the tune of his harp. It was the concerned cry exclamation of "Zelda!" from Ivan that made Shadow turn around. He gave me an exhausted, but happy smile. "Thank the Goddesses you woke up." He greeted me.

"Wh..." I struggled to speak as I became aware that I was covered in a blanket and that there was some sort of bundle under my head that served as a pillow. "What... happened?"

"Are you alright?!" Ivan pressed. "Does everything feel ok?"

"It... hurts." I wheezed as my eyes glanced to Shadow. "Wh-what was that... thing?"

"You remember that song about the well? The one with the mediocre rhyming?" Ivan asked, before he let out a weary laugh of dismay. " _Weeeeelllllllll._..It's real. The monster was sealed in the well and he escaped from it."

"Wha-?"

"Impa, the leader of Kakariko Village had sealed the spirit in the well many years ago." Shadow told me. "But somehow, the force of evil grew stronger over time, and was able to break the seal. I believe that Impa has gone to the Shadow Temple to seal it away again."

A flash of memories of what happened to those who went to the past temples crossed my mind. "She's going to be in dang-!" I protested, but it cost me a bit of my strength and I felt a pain in my chest.

"Impa's one of the six sages, isn't she?" Ivan asked. "But if she tries to stop the spirit-"

"There is an entrance to the Shadow Temple beneath the graveyard behind this village." Shadow told us, although there was a strange hesitancy in his voice. "I can help you get there, but you need a certain object to defeat the spirit. I doubt it exists in this time period anymore, but I know it used to be inside the well."

"...Please tell me that we don't have to go into the well to get it." Ivan's voice contained a barely concealed horror.

"Sorry buddy, but-"

Ivan let out a curse. "Of _all_ the things we had to do, we _have_ to go into the prison of a _murderer_! Gods- WHY?!"

"Impa recently sealed the well off, but there is a way to go back in time to the point from before the spirit escaped." Shadow continued. "Do you remember the pedestal of time back in the Temple of Time? If you thrust the Master Sword back into it, you should be able to go back seven years in time to when you were a child."

"...ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Ivan yelled. "We could have gone back in time and stopped this all from happening?! Hell, we might as well go and warn all of Hyrule about Ganon-"

"NO!" Shadow yelled back in frustration. "No, what I'm saying is that you can return to the moment you were sealed away, not _'Oh, I'll just pop in the castle and stab Ganondorf in the face before he riots all over the place!'_ "

"And why can't we?!"

"Because I don't know how to control time to that extent! Even if I did, I would need access to that power, which I don't have!"

Shadow sighed and ran a hand over his face, before glancing down to me. "I'm needed in this village, and you need to rest." He told me. "I'll get you somewhere safe, and then tomorrow I can tell you everything you need to do."

I merely nodded, before curiosity took over. "Shadow... did... did you stay by my side while I was asleep?"

Shadow went stiff. "I... might have." He nervously confessed as he averted his eyes from me for some reason.

"Oh," I smiled as I closed my eyes. "Thanks for that."

As the darkness overtook me, I could hear the harp play that haunting tune again.

"What's with that tune?" Ivan asked Shadow.

"A melody that draws you into the infinite darkness that absorbs even time itself... the Nocturne of Shadow."

-the next day-

Shadow went over what needed to be done and gave me a letter that I would need for when I would go back in time. He first told us that I needed to go to the windmill to learn a song, which I did.

Only to come face to face with a man who bore a tremendous and scary scowl as he played a strange tune on a box and horn contraption.

"What do you want?!" He snapped at me. "It's bad enough that the seal broke, and now you're going to bother me?!"

"Whoa, easy buddy!" Ivan snapped back. "We just need to know about something called The Song of Storms. Ring any bells?"

"Yeah, it's the song I'm playing right now!" The man growled. "I used to like it, until some kid with an ocarina from seven years ago played it and messed up the windmill!"

I pulled out the Ocarina of Time and listened to the melody, which I found to be very lovely. I hummed along with it, before I began to play the song.

And before I knew it, it began to rain in the windmill!

"What the-?!" Ivan barked in shock as rain fell from the ceiling and the windmill's center's rotation picked up in speed!

"YOU!" The musician growled as he pointed a finger at me. "IT WAS YOU, YOU LITTLE SCAMP! I KNEW YOU LOOKED FAMILIAR! YOU AND YOUR MOUTHY FAIRY!"

"Run!" Ivan flew towards the door and I followed suit.

"What in Din's name was that all about?!" He wondered later.

-One visit, a walk across Hyrule, and darting past re-deads to the temple later-

"How exactly did the man recognize us?" Ivan wondered. "If this time traveling thing happens, do we do something that ruins the windmill?"

"I suppose." I shrugged as I glanced at the pedestal.

"...I don't want to do this." I confessed as I cautiously looked at the pedestal. "Considering what happened last time and all." I did not want to lose more of my lifetime because of this urgent task.

I felt Ivan fly onto my shoulder. "Hey, I don't want to do this either." He confessed. "I'm terrified of what could happen too, but I was with you last time, wasn't I?"

I didn't tell him about that moment when I was alone in the void and scared out of my mind until someone who seemed oddly familiar and yet not quite finally comforted me.

I braced myself as I shook the thoughts out of my head. "Here goes nothing."

I plunged the sword into the pedestal and a familiar blue vortex engulfed me until I lost consciousness.

-7 years earlier-

I came to, and realized that the Master Sword felt a bit taller than usual. I opened my eyes to see child shaped arms holding onto the hilt of the sword.

I let out a gasp of shock and let go of the hilt. "I- I'm a kid again!" My voice squeaked and I almost winced at how light it sounded, in comparison to my adult voice.

"How does it feel to be back in your old body?" Ivan asked.

I looked around my body- I still wore the clothes I wore on that fateful day. My body was now lacking in certain... endowments...

I then noticed two things that stood out: one was that I now had the mark on the Triforce on the back of my hand, and the other... I looked at my left leg and saw that the scar from the burn that Volvagia had given me was gone as if I had never been burned to begin with.

Volvagia... Saria, Ruto, and Darunia... they were all still alive in this time period. Maybe I could-

No! I had to focus on my mission!

"Let's go." I firmly told Ivan as I walked away from the Master Sword. I didn't want to part with the sword, but at least I still had the Kokiri Sword with me to defend myself with.

Of course, I had to pass through a now bustling Hyrule Town, which showed no hint of the danger that was to come. Everything seemed quieter than usual, and I had to fight the urge to scream at them all to leave, before Ganondorf took over.

"Are you thinking about what could have been?" Ivan whispered. "How many lives we could save if we just speak up?"

"Yes." I confessed. "Every part of me wants to scream out, and yet I'm too afraid to change the future."

Ivan and I discussed such things as we went to the village: could we have the right to change the past and save all the lives that were lost? Where was Shadow around this time? Could we still see things as we did, with childish wonder, or were we both too jaded to do so anymore?

I finally entered Kakariko Village and first, I went to a young Aiden, who was happily playing with his friends by the well (which made me shudder.)

"Aiden!" I waved, and the boy turned in my direction.

"Zelda!" He grinned and ran towards me. "What's up?"

"I'm looking for a Sheikah who still lives in this village." I held my letter out. "He goes by the man of Kuromori."

"Oh yeah, I know him!" Aiden answered. "He's the local swordsman, in town. He's going to leave in a few days, but-"

"Could you deliver this to him?" I asked. "It's urgent."

"Sure!" Aiden took the letter and ran off, while I went to the windmill.

"We should have read the letter ourselves." Ivan grumbled. "I mean, we don't know what Shadow wrote, and we could have identified his handwriting."

"Well, he's not our concern." I replied as I walked up the stairs and entered the windmill, where the musician was happily playing the Song of Storms. I had to admit, the contrast between past and present incarnations of this man was sort of uncanny.

"...He must really like the song he's about to hate." Ivan commented. "I'm not complaining, but, man! Talk about irony!"

"Oh hello!" The musician cheerily greeted us. "Have you come to listen to this music and take a ride on the spinning wheel of the windmill?"

"...Uh, no. Not when you put it like that." Ivan retorted.

" _Play the Song of Storms in the windmill, and it''ll drain the well."_ Shadow's voice spoke in my head. With a sickening dread at what was about to happen, I played the song.

Just as before, the rain suddenly came down and the windmill picked up in speed. The moment I heard a "What the heck?! HEY YOU! GET OVER HERE!" I ran back out and hurried to the well.

"So... let me get this straight." Ivan began as we went to the well. "Because of time travel, he taught us the song that we just used to mess up the windmill... so... essentially it's _his_ fault, right? I'm not even going to think about the paradox we might have caused, because I don't know if my brain can take it."

"Eh." I shrugged as Aiden approached me, with a man at his side.

"There she is!" Aiden told the man, who cautiously approached us. He reminded me of Impa, as he had the same white hair and eyes, but his skin was a lot darker...

...And he was _very_ handsome looking.

"So you are Zelda and Ivan, correct?" Kuromori asked.

"Yeah, we are." Ivan spoke as I kept staring at the man and took in his features. I guess I hadn't completely reverted back into a child just yet, and I was starting to think of the older version of Aiden and Shadow...

...And that was when I decided that maybe older guys _were_ attractive after all.

"ZELDA!"

"Wha-?!" I shook my head and looked at Ivan.

"He's going to open the well for us!" Ivan was incredibly peeved.

"Oh!" I turned back to Kuromori and bowed. "I'm sorry about that." I let out an embarrassed laugh.

"According to the letter," Kuromori spoke as Aiden walked up to us. "I'm to open the well and allow you to retrieve my clan's artifact. It will let you defeat the monster trapped inside there in seven years from now."

"That was oddly specif- wait, what?" Ivan's voice dropped before he became angry. "Why in NAYRU would you lock up the very object with the monster that you are supposed to defeat it with?! What kind of logic _is_ that?!"

" _In the dark shadows is where he'll wait and will hide. You cannot see him without the Sheikah's truthful eye!"_ Aiden suddenly sang out.

"According to the nursery rhyme, you can only see through the illusion and darkness using an artifact called 'The eye of truth.'" Kuromori explained. "We used it a long time ago to find and seal away Bongo-Bongo."

WHY DID YOU SEAL IT AWAY WITH HIM?!" Ivan demanded.

Instead of answering, Kuromori held his hands out over the well and let out a chant.

"Why can't anyone explain to me the logic behind things?!" Ivan yelled. "It's like someone just up and gave up on being rational!"

"Your companion is funny." Aiden smirked at me.

"He prefers things that make sense." I confessed as Ivan continued to ramble on.

"It is done." Kuromori turned from the well to face me. "I'd advise you to be on your guard- there is no telling what is down there."

I felt my heart stop in fear. So this was it... I was about to enter the prison of a child killer. As if on cue, I thought I could hear the children chant out the rhyme.

" _One day, Bongo Bongo had a great big feast! He took all the naughty children and ate them up like fat little beasts! He lured them with his mighty drum, which was greater than any church bell- with each pat and slap, the drum lead them down the well!"_

"Oh Goddesses." Ivan groaned. "I made you promise to never take me anywhere near a well... I just had to tempt fate, didn't I?"

"The quicker we get this done, the sooner we can leave." I glanced to Ivan as I held a hand out. "What's one more monster?"

In truth, I was afraid of what I would find down there. As an adult, I had advantages and the Master Sword, but as a child, I was less powerful than I wanted to be.

"The girl is right." Kuromori gently told Ivan. "It appears that Farore especially favors her. You should return the favor and join her, so that she won't have to face the darkness alone."

"Farore favors me?" I questioned.

"It appears that you are blessed with courage." He replied. "Perhaps more so than you would think." He mysteriously added.

"I advise you to be quick about this." Kuromori cautioned. "I will have to seal the well back up- I can't risk allowing that monster escaping from there."

"I will." I swore before glancing to Aiden. "Thanks for your help!"

"Good luck." Aiden gulped. "You'll need it."

"Oh...why?" Ivan moaned as I noticed a set of bars that served as a ladder down the well. With a deep breath, I climbed all the way down into the darkness.

"Remember that things aren't what they appear to be down there!" Kuromori's voice echoed downward. "Do not trust your eyes!"

-The bottom of the well-

I had to climb through a narrow tunnel and already my clothes were nasty and damp. A nasty smell hit my nose, and I fought the urge to vomit as I forced myself out to the other end.

The inside of the well was ominous: aged stone walls, chains, metal grating on the ground, dark mounds of something and a skulltula greeted me in the first room. Which had a human skeleton and a dead end.

" _Lovely_." Ivan's sarcasm dripped. "We hit a dead end and got to meet the welcoming party within the first minute we get here!"

"Wait." I thought aloud. "Don't... trust your eyes?"

" _Look for the eye of truth_." Ivan suddenly said aloud.

"What?" I asked him.

"What the-?" Ivan glanced around. "I thought I- never mind."

I turned to the wall and placed a hand on it- only for it to go suddenly through.

"Whoa..." I went ahead and stepped through to find an underground water tunnel. So _that_ was what Kuromori meant by not trusting my eyes.

"Ah great- now we'll have to worry about fake walls and ceilings!" Ivan let out a nervous laugh. "I already _hate_ this place!"

Despite how erie everything was, and all the monsters I found, I was able to brave my way through what I could see.

It was by pure accident that I found another hidden chamber and this one looked like it was once some sort of prison. But what especially caught our attention was two wooden beams crossed together at the center of the room... and under it was what looked like blood.

We stared at the contraption in silence as we tried to comprehend what had happened down here, and yet I was too scared to imagine what Bongo-Bongo did to his victims. Did he use this contraption?

" _Watch for the shadows of monsters that hide in this room_." Ivan muttered.

"Ivan?"

"I can feel spirits talking inside the well." He trembled. "Ever since we came in here, I can hear them warning us."

"Come on, let's go." I moved away from the ghastly sight before us, so that we could continue the search.

We continued to find strange oddities, like a statue with a creepy grinning face that produced water from it's mouth and the symbol of the Triforce before it. Playing the royal family's lullaby drained the water it was producing, but it made Ivan question why another contraption based off the lullaby was down here. I could sense that part of the reason of his arguing was to calm himself down through his favorite past time of debating and trying to rationalize, and it gave me a sense of comfort in the well. I felt a chill in the air, and every part of my mind was screaming at me to get out of the well.

And yet, I had to continue, for the sake of Hyrule and everyone I cared for.

Things became a lot more uncomfortable when I reached the lower levels, because there seemed to be nothing but re-deads and gibdos down there. I almost learned the hard way that they would stop you in your tracks with their chilling screams and slowly approach you from behind. I could not scream for help when this happened, and I only had seconds to make a run for it when the curse wore off on me.

The sooner I could leave this place, the better.

"Why did they have to live above this place?" Ivan whimpered. "All these villagers are insane!"

We finally entered a chamber where there seemed to be nothing but bones and long sickly looking hands with red nails sticking up out of the ground in a wide circle.

I gave Ivan a nervous look. "W...what's this?"

I walked around the room as I held my sword out. Something was going to happen at any moment-

I felt something cold and clammy grab my head and I screamed as I struggled to break free from what felt like one of the many hands. "LET ME GO!"

But the hand kept a hold of me and I could feel the nails digging at my scalp as I heard a strange sound behind me.

"HOLY-!" Ivan cursed. "ZELDA SWING YOUR SWORD!"

"I CANT!" I yelled as a strange sound erupted out and I could feel something coming from behind.

"RIGHHHH!" Ivan yelled in frustration. I could not see what was going on behind me, and I could hear a raspy sound from behind.

"HEY TURD FACE!" Ivan yelled before I heard I smacking sound.

The hand suddenly let go of me and I turned in time to see some sort of white and red blob creature that looked like it had chicken wings and a long neck as it wobble-shuffled towards me.

"It's weak point is the head!" Ivan yelled as I backed away from the hands. "GET THE HEAD!"

The creature's human like head lowered and widened it's mouth at me by extending it's jaw downward, before lunging it's neck out towards me. It was a gruesome sight, and yet I fought the urge to run and I swung my sword at it. The monster let out a horrifying scream, but I took it as a sign of good fortune and continued to unleash my bravery at it's face.

Unfortunately, after a few swings of the sword, the abomination wobbled away from me an re-entered the earth. Also, I realized that I had to draw it out the same way I did before, much to Ivan's horror. This time, I watched as the abomination waddled towards me, and as it reached for the kill, Ivan flew in and smacked into it's head, allowing me to escape from the hand (with thanks from a chance to attack it with my sword) and quickly finish the job. In the end, the beast fell over and twitched until it faded out of existence.

"AND STAY DEAD!" Ivan yelled at the monster. "OR NEXT TIME, I'LL BORE YOU TO DEATH WITH A LONG RANT ABOUT THE IDIOCY OF THIS WHOLE VILLAGE!"

"Oh... Din.." I wheezed before looking to Ivan. "You... saved... my hide!"

"No one is going to lay a hand on you!" Ivan hissed. "If ugly thought he'd eat you, then he had another thing coming!"

I let out a laugh as a chest suddenly appeared in the room. I opened to to find a purple magnifying glass with a lens that was blue on one side and red on the other, and the design reminded me of an eye.

"I guess this is the eye of truth." I held it out to examine it properly. "Let's see how well it works."

"Let's get out of here!" Ivan demanded. "I hate this place! I'm sick of it, and I'm going to get nightmares for days!"

"Me too." I confessed as we made our way out.

With the lens of truth, I saw things that were not originally there, such as the gaps in the walls and the floors. I then realized the purpose of the contraption: I would need it to see Bongo-Bongo.

"This time, we'll see him coming." I muttered.

Then I thought to when I was knocked out: I vaguely remembered Shadow's voice slipping in and out, and I thought I felt something against my lips at one point. I could still feel the pressure against them, and I remembered that it felt cool, but at the same time it was very comforting.

"Ivan?" I asked as I glanced to my companion. "What did Shadow do when I was knocked out? Besides watching over me, that is."

At this point, we passed the wooden cross beams in the well.

And a familiar voice suddenly echoed around us.

" **LiTTle gIRl..."**

I froze to the spot as my heart stopped.

" **YoU aRe fooLiSH To ComE DOWn HERE, LIttLE gOLd HaIRed GirL. I hAVe LoNGed FoR comPAnY... DiD yOU wAnT to PLay WITh mE and MY FRiendS?"**

Everything became cold and I felt a strong presence within the well. Ivan must have felt it, because he didn't speak, but I could hear his heavy breathing.

And then I heard it. It was faint, but it was there...

A drum was beating.

Pat pat pat... pat pat pat...

" **Reh EmUsnoC TsUM i! tHGiL luFREWop A seIrRAc eHS."** The voice spoke as if it were being played backwards, which made it sound even more unsettling than it already was.

Pat... pat... pat pat pat... pat. Pat pat pat... pat.

" **FoRGEt tHE WORld AboVE... EmbrACE the DArkneESS..."**

I slowly turned my head to see something that wasn't there before- tied to the wooden beams, was something that reminded me of that attacked the village, but it was held back by glowing white runes all over it's form.

Pat pat pat. Pat pat pat. Pat pat pat.

The drum was calling for me... I could feel a pull towards the music. I wanted to listen to it.

" **PlAY witH me LiTTle GirL... LeTS pLAY..."**

" **YtsAT yraV eB tsUM eHS!"**

Pat pat. Pat. pat pat pat. pat! PAT! PAT! PAT!

I needed to listen to it! I had to!

I suddenly heard the sound of the Ocarina of Time playing in a duet with Shadow's harp. Together we played the Nocturne of Shadow, and it was drowning out the drumming that surrounded me.

"No." I flatly told it as my heart pounded in my chest. "Come on Ivan, let's go."

" **nO?! nOOOOOOOOOO?!"** The voice sounded like wind roaring across the valley.

Ivan let out a scream and flew off, and I was forced to follow him as I ran as fast as I could, past the invisible wall and all the way to the other invisible wall.

" **I knOW yOUR ScenT!"**

The slapping of the drum became more frantic and angry. It was coming after me! I had to outrun it!

" **WhEN yOU aRE oLDeR, I WiLL gET yOu!"** Bongo-Bongo swore as his voice echoed as if screaming and whispering at the same time. **"AnD I wILl PlAY WIth YOU!"**

We didn't stop. Not for a moment.

Even as the drums continued to play after us, until they died in our ears.

We did not stop until we reached the ladder and I got out of there as fast as I could, even as my young body screamed in protest.

As if sensing what had happened, Kuromori ran to the well to re-seal it, but I didn't try to help him. I collapsed on the grass covered ground and fought to regain my breath, and so did Ivan.

Never before had I been thankful to be out in the sun.

"...Ivan?" I turned to the fairy.

"Yes?" He asked.

"Thank you..." I panted. "Thank you for... saving me from that monster... earlier."

"Zelda..." Ivan replied. "I'll do anything for you. You didn't need to go through the well alone, and even though I hated every minute of it, I'm glad that I was there to help you."

It took us awhile to recover as we thanked the goddesses that we survived the horrors of the well. Ivan finally let out a sigh and asked. "So what's next?"

I tried to think. "I'm... supposed to get a crystal from a Great Fairy that lives near the castle."

"Ok, that's not bad." Ivan already sounded better. "I've never seen a Great Fairy before, so this might be interesting."

-Great Fairy Fountain near Hyrule Castle-

"I didn't notice any soldiers on the way." Ivan confessed after we entered the beautiful fountain. "Nobody came to investigate the explosion when we blew up the rock."

I didn't want to think about what was happening in the castle right at that moment. Instead, I played the lullaby at the crest and waited to see what would happen.

"So... what's so special about Great Fairies?" I asked.

"They are powerful enough to endow you with magic or strength." Ivan told me. "They are far superior to regular fairies, so I'm wondering what they are like."

As if on cue musical chuckle met our ears.

"Well, here you go." I told Ivan.

A figure then emerged from the fountain and spun around, and let out a peircing laugh that almost came out as maniacal, before she floated on her side and hovered over said fountain. She was dressed in nothing but boots and leaves, and her pink hair gently floated above her head, but I was drawn to her face and was amazed at how much makeup she wore.

"Hello dearie!" She cooed at me. "I heard that a young hero was traveling Hyrule! I am so glad to meet you, young one! I am the Great Fairy of Magic."

"I.. it's an honor to meet you, Mrs. Great Fairy." I glanced to Ivan.

No response.

"Oh, you have a fairy with you?!" The Great Fairy squealed. "He's _adorable_!"

Ivan let out a long, strange sound that reminded me of a creaky door slowly opening up in the dead of night.

"I was told that you could give us a magic spell." I told her over Ivan's odd vocal sound. "We need it for our quest."

"Of course sweetie!" She giggled. "I know who you are destined to become, and your heart is pure. Not to mention that I can't resist saying no to that adorable little face!" She wagged a red taloned finger at me before she kissed her hands and held them out to produce a red light, which then went into my outstretched hands. The light turned into a red crystal, which felt warm in my hands, and at the same time, I felt my strength return back to me.

"This is Din's Fire!" The Great Fairy told me. "With it, you will be surrounded by a wall of fire that will expand and protect you and burn things! Of course, if you learn how to use it, you can do much more than just that!"

She giggled. "Remember: when battle has made you weary, please come back to see me!" She blew me a parting kiss, before she returned to the fountain and let out another high pitched laugh that rang in my ears long after she was gone.

"...Well Ivan?" I turned back to him. "How was it?"

"No."

"What?"

"No...no, no, no, no, no, NO!" He yelled. " _THAT'S_ WHO OUTRANKS US?! _THOSE_ ARE OUR SUPERIORS?! I SAY NOPE! NOPE, NOPE, _NOPE!_ "

"Uh, Ivan, we are still in her-"

"ARGH!" He flew off and I was forced to go after him as I tucked my new spell in my pocket.

"Ivan wait!" I called for him as we hurried away from the castle. "Don't leave me behind!"

"I'D RATHER FACE THE WELL AGAIN THEN HAVE TO LIVE WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT THE GREAT FAIRIES ARE LIKE! THAT WAS TEN TIMES MORE TRAUMATIZING THAN ANYTHING WE FACED DOWN THERE!"

* * *

 **We got plenty of tricks and treats in this chapter! I hope you enjoyed them!**

 **If I can't finish this arc before Halloween is over, then I must say: HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I was Princess Zelda last year, but this year I'm dressing up as The Phantom of the Opera. I hope you guys have a safe time and be sure to check your candy to make sure no idiots are trying to injure trick-or-treaters. Otherwise, go barge into their house and break all their pots for trying to hurt you and your friends and siblings.**

 **...I was joking. Don't do that. LOL.**


	11. Face the dark

**mysteriousguy898:** Lol... wait, what do we get if we feed cows dead cows? Also, the Biggoron sword quandary might be answered sooner than you think. Well, since Halloween is coming up, I'm sure we will have a lot of chocolate to feed the cows for testing purposes. I've been too busy to test out the hypothesis lately.

 **HeroAlexa249:** Hopefully Ivan will not disappoint you. I almost had him witness the kiss, but the problem is that he'd probably figure out who Shadow really is a lot sooner than he should (and get ticked off about the kiss, of course.) I enjoyed writing that kiss scene and was really looking forward to writing it (and it was the first thing I wrote for that chapter.) :).

 **Just a guest:** Pot smashing IS fun thought. And... uh... yes?

 **Guest:** I don't know if I will do a Wind Waker fic. I do have some ideas in mind if that were to happen, but I'm kind of already balancing a lot, and I'd rather finish what I've been working on at the moment. I know that Tetra would still be in that AU.

 **I have to confess that this temple never scared me, so it's kind of reflected through Zelda. Ivan on the other hand... yeah, sorry buddy. This isn't going to be your day.**

* * *

 **Chapter 11: Face the dark**

We returned to the temple of time, but we were still shaken after that episode in the well (or the encounter with the Great Fairy, depending on who you asked.).

"Well, we got to meet the bogey man in the flesh." Ivan sighed. "If the well was bad, then I can only imagine what the Shadow Temple's like."

I crossed my arms in thought. "Ivan... when we encountered him, did you hear the drums too, or was that me?"

"I did." He replied. "Why?"

"...I don't know. I'm just wondering if it will affect me as an adult. I wanted to just stand and listen to it, but then I remembered the song Shadow played, and I was able to break free from the spell."

"That or your mind is a lot stronger than with most other kids." Ivan pointed out.

I turned to the Master Sword, which was in the pedestal. "I wish I could have enjoyed being a kid again, but we have things to do." I admitted. There was so many reasons why I wouldn't grab that sword again, but everything inside me was saying to keep going.

I grabbed the hilt of the sword and pulled it out of the pedestal.

- **7 years later-**

The instant we returned to the future, I could hear a familiar instrument and when the light faded, I glanced around until I saw Shadow strumming on his harp.

"Hey princess!" He chirped. "I thought I'd check in on you and make sure you got back."

"Thanks?" I was a little surprised to see him there in the temple. "Why aren't you at the village?"

"Oh, I had things to do, and stuff to collect." Shadow noticed Ivan and waved as he put his harp back into the mirror. "Hey there!"

"Hey." Ivan tried to sound somewhat enthusiastic.

"So anyway, I did myself a favor and got myself a backup weapon." Shadow continued. "Y'all want to take a look?"

He reached back in the mirror and pulled out a very long blade with a blue handle. He held it out in both hands and gave the sword a very proud grin. "I had the biggoron on Death Mountain make it for me. You don't want want to know the lengths I went to to get this thing: trust me." He shuddered.

"May I?" I held my hand out.

Shadow handed the blade to me, in exchange for the Master Sword. The larger blade was as heavy as it looked, and it required both hands to hold it up.

"Whoa!" I tried swinging it around. "I couldn't wield this thing!"

 **-Shadow's POV-**

Ok, why did my hand feel as if I stuck it in a fire pit?

I glanced down to see that the Master Sword was burning my hand to the point of producing smoke.

...Wait a minute. I hadn't gone _THAT_ far, had I? Evil can't touch this blade, so why was it hurting me?

I quickly stuck my hand in the sunlight that came out of the window and almost regretted it the second the pain worsened upon contact. Hey, I had no clue what was going on, and I didn't want them to think that I was on the wrong side.

 **-Zelda's POV-**

"I think I prefer the Master Sword." I held the larger blade out for Shadow. "It's lighter, and I don't fell as if I'm going to fall over. Plus, as odd as it sounds, I'm kind of attached to it."

"Sure." Shadow accepted his sword back. He examined the hand that held the sword for a moment, before he rested the edge of the blade against it, so that he could get a proper look at it. I could have sworn that his hand looked like it was smoking, but it might have been my imagination.

"So how was the past?" He asked.

Ivan took over for me. "The biggest let down and my worst nightmares in one combined. The Great Fairy was not what I was expecting and I think we caused a paradox. Also, why would the Sheikah put the lens of truth with Bongo Bongo in the well?! Oh yeah, we also encountered him, along a bunch of other freaks of nature in that well, and got scared to death!"

"Huh," Shadow thoughtfully glanced up to the ceiling "I should have asked Impa about the lens."

And then, as if to test Shadow, Ivan added. "Also, we met Kuromori, and I think Zelda developed a crush on him."

At that instant, Shadow sharply turned his head towards us and his hand slid down the blade hard enough to leave behind a black trail of what must have been his equivalent to blood.

"IVAN!" I yelled. "What the heck?!"

"Come again?" Shadow asked.

"It's nothing!" I quickly protested, although I was really embarrassed by this whole thing. "I really appreciated his help, that's all! He sealed the well back up when we were done!"

"Yes I... _suppose_ he has a way with women." Was it my imagination, or did Shadow sound exactly like Ivan when he was annoyed about how I interacted with Link and Aiden?

"Is that blood?" Ivan asked, in reference to the black stuff on Shadow's sword.

Shadow looked at it and replied in a really stiff tone. "No, it's ink: I had a bottle of ink in my hands."

" _Suuuuuure_." Ivan wasn't convinced. "Come on Zelda, we got a Temple to find-"

"Hang on a minute!" Shadow stopped Ivan. "Just... just wait until nightfall before you go in that Temple. I'll give you a hand!"

 **-Kakariko Graveyard-**

Not only was it still raining, but I was still giving Ivan a dirty look as we waited by the entrance.

"Why did you tell him about Kuromori?" I asked as I finished eating a small candy that I bought while waiting for nightfall to come.

"Just testing some theories." Ivan merely replied.

"What theories?"

"Look, I don't trust Shadow as much as you do. I'd elaborate, but this isn't the time."

"HEY Y'ALL!" We turned to see Shadow running up towards us. "Sorry about-"

"Ok, first things first." Ivan began. "What's the story behind this temple? If Bongo Bongo went there, then it's going to be _exactly_ like the well, right?"

Shadow gave Ivan a thoughtful look, before he grabbed my wrist. "Hold onto her- were going up over the graveyard."

"...Oh no." Ivan realized. "That trick again?!"

"Yup!"

Ivan grumbled as he held onto my hair. Seconds later, I found myself engulfed in darkness and felt my body fly forward, before it was suddenly thrown up several feet into the air and leapt over something, before I came to an abrupt stop.

"Ugh." Ivan groaned as the darkness fell back from us and reformed back into Shadow, who only rolled his head around and cracked his neck.

I looked around to find myself in a small cavern, filled with a large ring of unlit torches, a podium with a fire emblem, and a large door with a Sheikah eye upon it.

"Well, here you go." Shadow stepped away from us. "Welcome to the Shadow Temple. One of the most bloody and notorious places in all of fair Hyrule."

"... _Bloody_?" Ivan's voice almost squeaked.

"According to legends, this temple was both a prison and a place of execution against criminals and enemies of Hyrule in the past wars. It was set up almost seventy years ago, by m-" Shadow paused "by members of the Royal Family who preferred the quick approach. And yes, it's supposed to be like this graveyard, but much worse."

All was quiet.

"What is it with the Royal Family and the Sheikah?!" Ivan was disgusted as well as terrified. "Goddesses, do they all have to be so macabre?!"

"Hyrule hasn't had a solid past you know." Shadow told Ivan. "You can't handle a kingdom without making a few enemies."

"I'm going to hate this place!" Ivan let out a frantic, sarcastic laugh. "I want this over with!"

"Also, there should be a pair of hover boots hiding inside the temple that might come in handy. You'll know them when you see them."

"There better not be any re-deads in there!"

"Use Din's Fire to light all the torches and you're good to go." Shadow walked away to a corner of the cave. "I'm just going to be in a safe zone, away from the fire."

I walked to the podium and stood upon it. "Now what?"

"Imagine fire surrounding you, and throw your hand down to the ground."

I held the crystal out in front of me and I imagined a nice campfire, or a fire in a hearth inside one of the houses I had visited. The crystal became warm in my hands, and as I imagined the fires increasing to a large blaze that could melt away the frozen Zora's Domain, I bent over and slammed my hand and the crystal inside it to the ground.

A wall of fire spread out of me and expanded outward as it lit all the torches in it's path. Once all the torches were lit, the wall of fire vanished, and the door creaked and moved upward.

"Nice!" Shadow praised as he walked back to me. "You got some potential for magic in you!"

"Gonna hate this place, gonna hate this place, gonna hate this place." Ivan chanted as I got off the podium. We made are way to the door, but just before I passed all the torches, I felt a hand firmly grab my wrist.

"Zelda-" I turned to see Shadow: he seemed surprisingly troubled and even a bit afraid.

"Yes?" I asked.

"I... if you don't want to face Bongo Bongo alone, I'll go with you." He told me. "I thought I lost you for good after he almost killed you in the village."

"You'd go with us?" I asked in surprise.

Shadow slowly nodded. "I mean it. I-" He stopped and sighed. "You deserve better than this. This place should be like a paradise for someone with my abilities, and you should get all the help you need."

I did want his help, but something inside me said that perhaps I could manage just fine without him. Plus, I needed to face Bongo Bongo and get over whatever fears I had left.

"I appreciate your concern." I smiled with confidence. "But I think can handle it. I already faced Bongo Bongo twice and I've survived an encounter with Ganondorf. At the end of the day, this guy is just another monster that I'll have to face; Plus, I got Ivan, right?" I grinned at my companion.

"Heh, heh hehhhh." Ivan nervously laughed.

Shadow smirked. "I suppose so." He let go of my wrist and took a few steps back. "But in all seriousness... just be careful."

"I will." I smiled and waved as I went into the darkness of the Shadow Temple, with the reluctant Ivan by my side.

"I mean it- be careful!"

 **-Shadow Temple-**

The second we approached what was obviously a fake wall that depicted a grinning creature, _that_ was when I felt a little unnerved by what we would face.

" _The Shadow will yield only to one with the eye of truth, handed down in Kakariko Village."_ A quiet voice echoed.

"Ugh..." Ivan moaned as we passed through the wall. "Well, I guess we already- ah darn it!" Ivan then cursed as we made our way through the chambers. "We should have used the lens of truth on Shadow!"

"Why?"

"If he's a shapeshifter, than he has to have a real form." Ivan explained as we entered a maze with skulls, with the lens of truth in my hand to guide us through what we couldn't see.

" _One who gains the eye of truth will be able to see what is hidden in the darkness."_

"What the creepy disembodied voice said. What I'm saying is that it might help us figure out if Shadow can really be trusted or not."

" _Shadow Temple... Here is gathered Hyrule's history of greed and hatred."_

I shuddered. "I wonder if it's referring to the Triforce."

I had no idea what had happened in Hyrule's past, due to my ignorance of the world outside of the forest. What sort of horrors had occurred to lead to the creation of this temple and the well?

I went through the hidden wall- only to find a re-dead in the next room.

"OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!" Ivan yelled.

 **-three minutes and one fight later-**

" _What is hidden in the darkness.. Tricks full of ill will... You can't see the way forward."_

"NO FREAKING KIDDING, WISE GUY!" Ivan sarcastically yelled.

"You know, your commentary is killing any creepy vibes that this place has." I pointed out.

"GOOD!"

That of course changed when we found another hidden room.

"Oh _no_." Ivan groaned when we ourselves in a familiar chamber with a set of hands sticking out in the ground. "Not _this_ again."

I saw a dark path on the ground when I used the lens of truth. "I wonder if I drive him out with a bomb."

"No, no, no, NO!" Ivan panicked. "Remember what happened last time?!"

I went to the spot, and avoided the hands in the process.

"Zelda, please don't-" I took a bomb out. "NO!"

I glanced up. "No whoopsies?" I frowned at Ivan.

"NO! NO WHOOPSIES!"

"Well... I suppose I-" I deliberately dropped the bomb from my hands. "Whoopsie!" I chuckled.

I made a run for it and watched as the explosion of the bomb brought forth the ugly face monster from the ground.

"Hey there!" I grinned as I held my sword out, while Ivan made scared noises. The monster approached me and let his head drop when he lowered his neck- only for me to let him have it with my sword.

"My sword is tasty, isn't it?!" I laughed.

It took less time for the monster to collapse and ultimately fade away, (but I did put the lens to good use) until a chest fell to the ground.

"How can you laugh that thing?!" Ivan asked me.

"I don't know, maybe it's my nerves getting to me." I confessed. "That or he's not as scary to me as an adult." I made my way to the chest and pulled out a set of boots that had a yellow thing around the toe area and little wings.

"These must be the hover boots." I decided. "What exactly do they do?"

Minutes later (after solving another puzzle) I was able to test them out by jumping in the air, where I found myself hovering for about two seconds, before I fell to the ground.

"Lame." Ivan commented.

"I don't know..." I turned to see a huge gap between where I was and what looked like the tongue from a monster that formed a doorway on the other side of the room. I noticed a sign post that was to my left and read it out loud:

 _Only one who has sacred feet can cross the valley of the dead._

"Welcome to the Shadow Temple: here we have disembodied spirits, a monster that can extend it's jaw when it wants to eat you, invisible walls, an escapee from the well, and a _sign post_." Ivan commented. "I swear, if I see a cow or a scarecrow in this place-"

I ignored Ivan and he almost had a heart attack as I walked across the open air and had to make a quick leap to reach the 'tongue' of the monster.

"Are you trying to turn me into an old man?!"

"Well, on the bright side, we know that it worked." I told him.

 **-A few rooms later-**

"What is this?!" Ivan asked as we came into a room that had two figures in the center that spun around and each swung a scythe out around the room. Also, there were lots of beams on the ground and a silver rupee placed here and there.

I immediately figured out what to do (based on past experiences) and ran for the rupees.

"ZELDA GET BACK HERE!"

I hummed to myself as I maneuvered my way around the room to collect each rupee and crawled on my stomach when the scythes were getting too close, so that I could avoid them.

 **-a few rooms later-**

After navigating a corridor filled with skutullas, I had to dodge some guillotines ( thanks to my impeccable timing skills) and entered another corridor.

"Wait." Ivan hesitated. "I sense something... really off about this corridor."

I ignored him and continued my walk until I saw an open space at the other end of the corridor, with even more guillotines.

"You know, I'm wondering if they altered this place, to keep intruders out." I said. "This place isn't fit for anyone to navigate, if you think about it."

"Uh... Zelda?!" Ivan panicked was he heard a strange rushing sound.

"What?"

"RUN!"

Ivan's warning came too late- I felt something like a hand grab me around the waist and torso and I screamed as it lifted me up into the darkness.

 **-Ivan's POV-**

"ZELDA!" I screamed, but the damn hand monster had taken her up into the darkness in the ceiling.

"OH GODS, WHY?!" I panicked. "WHERE DID SHE GO?! I DON'T WANT TO BE IN HERE BY MYSELF!" I laughed like a maniac. Great! Just great! What the heck could I do now?!

I heard the ominous rushing sound and I looked down to see a shadow growing under me.

...I'm so ****ed, aren't I?

I felt something grab me and I was lifted up into the air- all the while I was screaming like a little girl and I was pretty sure that I was _that_ close to not needing to use the bathroom anytime soon.

 **-Zelda's POV-**

The hand dropped me all the way back to the beginning of the temple.

...Freaking fantastic.

I shuddered when I remembered how disgusting the touch of that hand was, and I began to worry for Ivan. I didn't see him, and I had a bad feeling that he was on his own.

Seconds later, I heard frantic high pitched screaming and looked to see a miniature version of my captor drop from the ceiling and let go of my companion, before it rose back up into the dark.

"I DON'T WANT TO DIE I HAVE TOO MUCH TO LIVE FOR!" Ivan screamed. "I HAVEN'T EVEN FIGURED OUT THE REASON BEHIND ALL THE ILLOGICAL STUFF IN ALL OF HYRULE!"

"IVAN!" I snapped and swatted him as gently as I could. I knocked him back a bit, but at least I was able to shut him up.

"What the- OH THANK FARORE!" Ivan cried as he flew to me. "I thought I was going to be stuck in that place by myself!"

"And me?"

"...Yeah, I was worried about you too." He admitted.

"Thanks." I smiled. "Well, now we have to go back."

Ivan was silent, before he let out a tremendous cry of frustration that almost shattered my ear drums. "I HATE THIS PLACE!"

 **-later-**

Despite Ivan's protests, I was able to brave my way through the temple. I had to agree with him that I thought that most of the... 'puzzles' involving spikes were a bit much.

"If they wanted to torture people here, than I could see why." Ivan then sarcastically added. "Congratulations people of Hyrule: I'm not going to be able to sleep at night, knowing how messed up you guys are!"

"I suppose this might be why Bongo Bongo went here." I frowned at the memory of encountering him in the well. "But why did the seal weaken? Did Ganondorf have something to do with it, or was it us?"

Neither of us liked that idea.

"The sooner we get to him, the better." I vowed.

Sometime later, we came to a chamber where a large boat with bells at it's front was resting in what looked like a purple fog river within the catacombs of the temple.

"Ok, I have to admit, that's impressive." Ivan sounded less afraid, which was a relief.

Of course, when we got on the boat and saw the familiar Triforce mark on the deck, he went back into his rant mode.

"WHY DOES THE LULLABY HAVE TO BE USED IN THESE TEMPLES?! ESPECIALLY THIS ONE?! WHAT'S _WRONG_ WITH THE ROYAL FAMILY?!"

I couldn't think of a way to reply to that, so I went ahead and played the song. In response, the bells on the boat rang out, and the boat itself began to bob up and down as it took me into a tunnel.

A tunnel filled with what reminded me of the spirits of poes, but only much more menacing.

"...I'm not going to comment on that." Ivan firmly told me, before a set of stalfoes got on the boat on either side of me. I yelped in surprise, but I already had my sword out in response to the sudden ambush.

I wish I could say that I made quick work of them, but I didn't, and what was worse was that I got so distracted that I didn't see where the boat was going, and by the time it stopped, it began to tremble.

"ZELDA THE SHIP IS SINKING! GET OFF OF IT!" Ivan frantically screamed.

I wasted no time. I saw a 'port' on the other side, and I jumped right off the boat and onto the stone ground, just as the boat sank into the dark depths below.

"Holy... mother..." I panted as I glanced at where the boat used to be and shuddered. "Th-that was close! Thanks Ivan!" I glanced up at the fairy, who was trembling.

"This place is out to get us." Ivan's voice trembled. "It wants us to join the rest of it's victims..."

"It looks like it." I admitted as I got up. "But we're going to make it. We'll find Impa and we'll get out of here."

"And Bongo Bongo." Ivan pointed out.

 **-a few rooms later-**

"Oh _come on_!" Ivan complained as two wooden walls with spikes on them began to close in on us.

 **-the room with the spinning jars-**

"Hey Ivan!" I grinned as I tossed a bomb up and down in my hand. "Ten rupees says that I'll get each one on the first try."

"Logic says that you'll miss at least five times." Ivan reluctantly betted against me. "And you owe me twenty rupees.

Neither of us won, but it was still pretty fun.

 **-outside the boss room-**

"So, let's recap." Ivan began. "We just went through what is most likely the biggest torture chamber in all of Hyrule, which also likes to drive home the themes of death and complete despair. We have yet to see Impa in this temple, and I am assuming that Bongo Bongo is close by."

"I suppose." I shrugged.

"So why have you been so calm about all of this?"

"This place _does_ creep me out," I confessed. "But after so many monsters and traps, I guess this place isn't as scary as it should be to me. I'm more afraid of what would happen if I don't survive."

I turned to the door and opened it to reveal a room with just a huge hole in the ground. I was reminded of when I faced King Dodongo and I realized that I would have to make the leap once more.

"You can't see jack down there." Ivan shuddered. "I think we found where drummer man is hiding."

I walked over to the hole, when Ivan quickly stopped me. "Wait- what about what happened last time? Bongo Bongo knew who you were, thanks to the time traveling incident. What if he tries to-" Ivan trembled.

I turned to look into the darkness; I remembered all too well what Bongo Bongo did to me, as well as the spell he seemed to cast over me.

"I am a little scared." I admitted. "But if I can't face this challenge, than I can't face Ganondorf."

I almost took another step before Ivan let out "WAIT!"

"Look." He began. "You need the eye of truth for this guy right? Can you use it with your sword and shield?"

"I suppose not." This was a dismal thought, so I put my shield away for safe keeping.

Finally, I took a leap breath and leapt into the darkness.

The descent felt like it would go on for ages, and I began to wonder where I would fall, or if I would die upon impact. Luckily, I hit something bouncy like that made a 'pat' sound, and I tumbled to my knees with an 'Omph!'

I felt something strange and almost familiar under my fingers as I got up to my feet. As if it were a beacon, the circular surface I stood upon was yellow, with eye patterns upon it. Or was it a blue surface? I felt as if my mind was playing tricks on me after I made that fall.

Everything else was complete darkness.

"Where are we?" I asked as Ivan flew beside me.

I heard that 'pat' sound and I was suddenly lifted into the air for a good couple of feet, before I could land on my feet again.

I remembered that 'pat' sound.

And before I knew it, I saw a pair of grayish, grotesque hands on each side of the surface. One of them began to hit the surface again, and this time I didn't fly up.

Pat, pat, pat.

Pat, pat, pat.

And then I realized what I was standing on: a big drum.

 _He lured them with his mighty drum, which was greater than any church bell- with each pat and slap, the drum lead them down the well!_

PAT!

This time I was sent flying up.

" **ThE LiTTlE GoLD hAIRed GiRL HAs SurvIveD? BuT tHEn AgAIN I shOULD nOt ExPEct LesS oF thE OnE ChILD WhO eScAPed FroM mE!"** Bongo Bongo's sinister voice called out to me. **"I SeE thaT yOU DaRe to FAcE mE!"**

Pat, pat, PAT! Pat, pat, PAT!

"Where is Impa?!" I yelled as I tried to make out what was in the darkness in front of me. Who was the owner of the disembodied hands?

" **I fiNAllY VaNquIShEd thAt TrOUBleSomE SheiKaH! sHE gOT wHAt sHE dEServEd!"** Bongo Bongo sounded triumphant at this victory. **"tHeY All wIlL PaY! ThoSE sPinElEss lApDOGs oF tHE LoaTHsOme RoyAl FaMIly! I CuRsE ThEiR bLooD tO DAmnaTiON!"**

And that was when my opponent revealed himself: a muscular body whose torso hung from the ceiling. It had stubs at the end of it's arms and what I swore was supposed to be bones sticking out of them.

But the worst part of all was that there was nothing at the end of it's neck, except for what looked like a huge red eye with things that not only reminded me of flower petals, but also moved in and out. I shuddered when I saw that eye looking right at me, but it was nothing compared to what he almost screamed out.

" _ **ThEy CuT mY HaNdS oFF aND ToOk mY hEaD! ThEy uSeD OnE oF mY aLL seeING EYES AgAinSt me, WhEN I tOoK mY RevEnGE uPOn tHEir SPawN!"**_

I could only stare in horror after hearing this revelation.

" _ **uS deNodnAba AiLyH neHw, AiLyH eVRes oT eUnItNoC eW DluOhS yHW?!"**_

He then vanished into the darkness, but his hands continued to beat against the drum as they rotated around me. Unfortunately, each pat sent me flying and I was unable to focus on just what to do.

"I think you'll need the bow for this guy!" Ivan yelled. "Give me the lens!"

I handed it over to him mid-'flight'.

" **I wIlL sOoN dEvouR yOu anD CoNsUme the LiGhT ThAt HiDeS iNsIDe yOU!"** Bongo Bongo swore.

"The what?!" I asked, but he sent a hand out at me and I was forced to duck it.

" **SsnKrAD Fo LaoLC eHt nIHtiW seDIh oHW yOb Eht eDiSnI tHgiL eHt eKIl TsUJ!"**

I quickly got my bow out and made myself ready when Bongo Bongo's hands were stationary. Before he could attack me, I shot an arrow to his hand, which turned blue upon impact.

" _ **HtcIW yOu!"**_ He cursed as he shook his hand.

"If you'd cut the mumbo jumbo out, then maybe I'd be offended by what ever you just said!" I snarled as I readied another arrow.

Moments later, I was able to land a hit.

"Ok, he's in the view!" Ivan lowered the lens in front of my eye, and I could see Bongo Bongo.

" **i LoOk iNtO youR eYEs, aNd sEE trUTh!"** He taunted me. **"SraEF rOuy Ees I!"**

He charged at me, but I was ready and aimed an arrow into his eye.

He let out a monstrous cry, but I quickly took the Master Sword out and let him have it. With each swipe, his eye twitched, as did his whole body, until he finally regained his strength and moved back.

" **YoU ArE AfRaiD ThAT YoU wILL diE anD ThAT aLL yOu SacRiFiCed wAS aLL fOr NothING."** He told me as he continued to beat his drum. **"I sAw yOUr EyEs sEvEn YearS aGo, lIttLe GoLd hAIreD gIRl! YoU fEaR deFeAte aNd thE KiNG oF eVIL HimSelF!"**

"SHUT UP!" I yelled as I tried to send an arrow to his hand and missed.

" **YoU aRE aFRaiD ThAT yOU wiLL haVE tO lEAVe yOUr cOmpAnIon'S SiDE aND sHE WILL bE All ALONe."** He continued. " **HeR pUrPoSe Isn'T LiKE tHAT oF thE kOkiRi, iSn't It? ShE wOnT nEeD yOu bY hEr SiDE tHrouGhoUT hEr WhoLE exisTEnse!"**

I quickly realized that he was now talking to my companion and in a bout of stupidity, I lowered my bow in confusion and glanced to Ivan. "What does he mean?!" I demanded.

I noticed almost too late that a hand was going to snatch me up, and I had to make a run for it.

" **DeRtAH fO noItAnRaCni eHt oT sSetsiM SOUiceRP rOUy eSol LLiW uOY tHAt diArFa eRA OuY!"** He continued on as I tried to hit him.

I turned and quickly landed an arrow into his hand. It didn't take long for him to reveal himself and repeat attacking him in the eye/ neck/ did I even want to know anymore?

Without warning, I felt that now familiar sensation of something grabbing me and a quick pressure went against my torso and chest as everything inside me was squeezed in.

" **HaD tHe SheIKAh nOT aPPeaRed, I woUlD hAVE fInIshED yOU oFF, agES agO!"** My opponent cursed. **"AnD nOw I'lLL fInIsh WhAt i STArteD, LiTTlE GolD hAIrEd gIrL!"**

I felt something inside me snap.

"I'm not a little girl anymore!" I yelled as I swung my sword into one of his fingers.

Bongo Bongo howled, but his grip on me tightened up.

"I have come too far to be killed by you, of all monsters!" I swore as I repeatedly stabbed him in the hand until he finally lost his grip, but I swung my sword out at his fingers for a good measure as I feel onto the drum.

I felt a strange warmth on the back of my hand, and my body began to recover as if my rib cage wasn't almost fractured just moments ago, but I ignored the sensation as I rushed ahead and ignored what discomfort I could still feel.

" _ **I wILL NOT be FORgoTtEN!"**_ Bongo Bongo swore. **"I'LL lIvE on In mEmoRy-!"**

"SHUT UP!" I yelled as I let my sword have at what was the monster's 'face.' Over and over, I attacked him, as if I had a greater strength that was dormant inside me. "You are just a story in the end! A scary story to scare off children!"

I never stopped until he finally arched back and went silent.

" _ **I cUrSe YoU All!"**_ He shrieked and frantically beat the drum.

I backed away to join Ivan's side, as Bongo Bongo let out his final curse as he slowly turned dark. His hands were flat and stiff, while the main body twitched and writhed.

" _ **DeeRG dnA dOOLb ruOuY fO aeS eHt NI denWorD eB fleSti ELurYH dnA nrEdlIhC ruOy Fo LLa yAM!"**_

The demon drummer slowed his music to a halt and the 'pats' ceased, until he finally turned black and fell onto his drum. His body dissolved into the black darkness I once saw in the village, until it faded away into nothingness.

It was then that I glanced down at my hand: there, on the back of it, was the mark of the Triforce glowing in a brilliant golden light.

"Wh-what happened?" Ivan asked nervously. "That mark-"

"I don't know." I confessed as the mark then faded to nothing and I put my sword away. "My hand felt warm and then I..." My voice trailed off as the blue light made an appearance.

"OH FARORE!"

I turned in time to see the lens of truth fall to the drum as Ivan shrieked "The lens of truth was one of his eyes?! No _wonder_ they didn't tell us why it was down in the well with him! Oh Gods, we were looking through a _body part_ this whole time!"

"Calm down Ivan." I held a hand out for him as I bent down to put the lens of truth away. "It's disturbing, but I couldn't have done it without you or that trinket."

"I had enough of this place! I want to get out of here and never come back here ever again!" Ivan continued. "And if someone tries to drag me back, I'll beat them over the head with something blunt!"

I laughed. "I'll keep that in mind."

I went to the blue light, but as I did, a chorus of voices rang out in joyous triumph:

" _News shines through the shadow o'ver the dell! Ol' Bongo Bongo is sealed up nice and good, in the deep, dark WELL!"_

Shrieks of childish delight and giggles echoed around the both of us.

"And I hope it's for good this time." I muttered as we entered the light.

 **-chamber of the sages-**

Right before us, on a purple medallion, was Impa.

At first, she didn't say a word, but then she smiled and held an arm up in the air over the one that was crossed against her torso. "I expected that you would come, young one."

"Impa." I managed to smile. "It's good to see you again."

"Thanks a lot for putting us through the well and the Shadow Temple, lady!" Ivan snapped.

"Ivan, shut it!" I snapped before turning back to Impa. "Please forgive him: he gets scared easily."

"I understand that you had to endure much horror." Impa reassured me. "We Sheikah have served the royalty of Hyrule from generation to generation, and we have been willing to hide in the shadows, as well as keep them at bay from the light. The monster you faced was once one of our own, until he lost sight of the purpose of his duty, as well as it's greater rewards."

"He told me what happened." I bit my lip. "He wasn't happy about his punishment... and he boasted to me about his defeat over you."

Impa dropped her hand as a frown of regret crossed her face. "Even the best of us have wavered on the path that we take for the greater good. He just went too far off the path, and I had no choice put to put an end to him, for the sake of Hyrule." She then changed the subject.

"On that day seven years ago, Ganondorf suddenly attacked and Hyrule was forced to surrender. As you know, his target was the Ocarina of Time, and my duty was to get the prince out of his reach. On that horrible night, I saw you as a child... but now you have grown into a fine young woman." She smiled again. "Despite all that has happened, I am pleased to see that you found the strength to persevere, unlike the one who you had just defeated."

"Oh that's right!" I gasped as I remembered. "Link! Impa, please tell me!" I pleaded as I clasped my hands together. "Where is he? Is he safe?"

Impa paused.

"The prince... has done things that have gone against my approval. He has tried to do what he can for Hyrule, but..."

I felt my heart stop as I felt a fear for Link that was greater than to anything in the well or the Shadow Temple. "What happened?" I demanded.

"I am not at liberty to tell you." Impa shook her head. "When the time comes, you will meet face to face, and he will explain. That will be when we, the Six Sages, will assist you in Ganondorf's defeat."

"I see..." I was disappointed that she couldn't just out right tell me the truth.

"I do have a request." Impa told me. "Link will need the aid and protection that I can no longer grant. Can you do this for me?"

"Of course!" I smiled as everything turned white around me and Impa vanished from sight.

" _Please look out for him!"_

 _ **-**_ **Kakariko Graveyard-**

Ivan and I found ourselves out in broad daylight, and the sun was finally escaping through the storm clouds and covering the once dreary land with a light that I had missed when I was in the temple.

"Oh thank you Din, Farore, and Nayru!" Ivan praised the heavens. "Never again!"

"Well... it's over." I glanced to Ivan with a smile, but then I frowned. "But... what did Bongo Bongo mean when he was talking about me having a different purpose from the Kokiri?"

"Well..." Ivan sounded uncomfortable. "I mean, I'm supposed to guide you to save Hyrule, so you won't need me anymore when it's all over-"

I just shook my head. "Ivan, you do realize how important you are to me, right? I have my entire trust in you, and I believe I've said several times over that I am glad that you have stayed by my side and helped me fight off my inner demons."

I went over to the wooden fence that separated the temple from the graveyard and climbed over it. "Plus, we can say that we met Bongo Bongo face to face and defeated him to all of the villagers! You also helped me, so you should feel good about facing him, despite how much of a scaredy fairy you were the whole time!"

"Oh yeah!" Ivan became chipper at this thought. "Heh- I guess you're right!" He then realized what I called him. "Really? Again with the 'scaredy fairy' nickname?"

"Sorry." I grinned. "I couldn't resist."

I was able to leap off the fence and fall into a couching position to the ground, before I began to run out of the cemetery, with Ivan by my side. "Alright!" I began. "After we boast to the villagers about what we did-"

"And become part of a creepy nursery rhyme."

"-we'll have to figure out our next destination!" I concluded. "Now where is the last temple and where can we find the sage?"

 **-Ganondorf's Castle-**

A lone Gerudo female of twenty three years glanced though the glass stained windows of the chambers with lifeless eyes. She was dressed in orange silk that clung to her curves and pooled around her feet, while her arms bore multiple gold and jeweled bracelets and arm bands, in addition to the gold around her neck, and the jeweled headpiece in her hair.

She felt as if she were a center piece for some grand delusion, and yet she knew that in the end, she was only a minor detail.

"Is it not to your liking?" A deep voice asked from behind.

The woman turned to see Ganondorf: he looked more like a beast than a man, with his hair grown out into an untamed mane. His eyes, of course, looked more animalistic than his appearance, and could only guess the reason behind it, if she hadn't already figured it out.

He approached the woman and as he reached a hand out and traced his fingers over her shoulders, she couldn't tell if she was shuddering in disgust or shivering out of a hidden thrill (to her great discomfort).

"I used to look up to you when I was younger." Her voice sounded weak, but he could hear the fire in it. "I thought you would change our lives for the better, until I saw the greed and blood lust hiding in your eyes. You were after more than peace and prosperity." She spat.

"So none of this is to your liking?" Ganondorf cupped her chin and forced her to look up at him. "Do you really find this change of fortune unfavorable?"

"I would rather die than espouse a boar in a man's skin!" She hissed. She knew what she said would grant her a fate worse than death, but she didn't care anymore. Death would be preferable, but if there had been a way to save the rest of the Gerudo from their ruler-

Ganondorf let go of her chin. "What a shame." He almost sounded disappointed. "Your rebellious nature doesn't deserve to be wiped clean, but it hasn't played in your favor since the day you planned to betray your king."

"Ganondorf." Two voices crackled from the door frame.

The girl's fire died and was replaced with cold horror as she heard _them_ coming.

"It appears our puppet refuses to cooperate with you." One of them chuckled.

"Perhaps she would rather be a lifeless doll again?" The other laughed.

The woman made as if to escape, but it was too late: as if something inside her was triggered, she became stiff, and her eyes became glazed over, as if in a trance.

"She's fit for carrying out your lineage, and yet she'd probably burn this chamber up with you still in it!" The red hag on the broom crackled.

"Why are you two here?" Ganondorf calmly demanded as he looked over the now lifeless woman who was, in truth, his favorite of all the women of his tribe, as well as the most amusing. "I was enjoying my time with Nabrooru, until you barged in uninvited."

The two let out a horrendous laugh at this. "It didn't look like you got far enough!" One of them crackled.

Ganondorf was getting annoyed at the intrusion. "Tell me why you are here, before I-"

"We have an idea on how to get the mouthy shapeshifter." The blue hag gleefully spoke out.

"The little bugger will be caught under the sunlight and be burnt to ashes yet!" The red hag cheered. "He's been all too helpful towards the little girl. We should force him under the light and make him cast off his shadow to reveal what his true intentions are!"

Ganondorf thought for a moment.

"Go on."

 **-Outtake-**

 **The joke that you knew was coming**

He reached back in the mirror and pulled out a very long blade with a blue handle. He held it out in both hands and gave the sword a very proud grin. "I had a biggoron on Death Mountain make it for me. You don't want want to know the lengths I went to to get this thing: trust me." He shuddered.

"May I?" I held my hand out.

Shadow handed the blade to me, in exchange for the Master Sword. The larger blade was as heavy as it looked, and it required both hands to hold it up.

"Whoa!" I tried swinging it around. "I couldn't wield this thing!"

" _YOU LITTLE LYING FOOL!"_ A very _angry_ voice rang throughout the room.

"...What the Din?" Ivan asked.

" _YOU PROMISED ME THAT YOU WOULDN'T USE ANOTHER SWORD! AND LOOK WHAT YOU ARE DOING NOW! I BET YOUR BALANCE IS OFF BECAUSE OF THAT THING, ISN'T IT?! THE SIZE DIFFERENCE DOESN'T EVEN WORK IN YOUR FAVOR! SUCH CHEAP CRAFTSMANSHIP!"_

"...I sense logic and rationality being thrown out the window again." Ivan said.

"I think I can smell my hand turning into roasted flesh." Shadow glanced to his smoking hand. "...That... shouldn't be happening, should it?"

All the while- for whatever reason- I began to feel as if I needed to fear for my life.

* * *

Well hey there again, you crazy old witches! :D I admit that the possible Ganondorf/Nabrooru dynamic intrigues me and long time ago, I almost considered having Nabrooru be the bad guy and Ganondorf be the sage of spirit. I even started writing something about that, before I gave up.

Next chapter will be a bonus chapter, but it will be different than the others I've done. It's going to be more of a short story than a gag chapter.

Well... I guess I met my goal and finished this before the end of this month... and with that, I hope yOu gUys hAve **A hApPy HaLLoWeeN!**

 **pat pat pat.**

 **pat pat pat.**

 **pat pat p-**


	12. Bonus Story

**mysteriousguy898: It's been a long time since I played the game, and I had to review videos on youtube since I have little time to play video games this year. And my creativity is threatening to drop.**

 **I think by the time there would be a Majora's Mask AU, Zelda would barely flinch when it comes to the strange and unnatural, (though this would be after something I've heavily hinted at in both Twilight Twists and Hyrule Warriors Warped, and by then she has seen a lot that would make Majora itself look like a fluffy bunny in comparison. She would be going through her own 'five stages of grief' in a MM AU.)**

 **Phoenix Champion: I've only completed the quest for the sword once or twice. I hate the timer aspect of it and that if you use the Bolero of Fire, it's an automatic failure. I'm more of a 'hammer to Ganon's tail' person, I suppose.**

 **HeroAlexa249: Ah yes, I believe so. I miss the era of Hail-Neko-Yasha, and I love the comics and humor of them. Yeah, Ivan is still keeping in mind that they should have used the Lens of Truth on Shadow, and he might get his chance next chapter.**

 **I haven't seen the Ganondorf theory yet, but I also love those theories and analysis videos.**

 **MercenaryCrime: Thanks again for catching that spelling error. And Bongo-Bongo** _ **might**_ **be foreshadowing Wind Waker in that one line... though it was probably obvious already. IDK I saw that you commented on it, and felt a need to reply to it.**

Hey guys, I've been super busy with school lately. I don't know if I'll be able get much done on Hyrule Warriors Warped- partly because I need to try to play through the level in the next chapter for some badly needed inspiration- and I think it's going to be divided in two by this rate. To make up for things, I give you this chapter.

This bonus chapter will be different than my other bonus chapters, and I had this planned for a very long time, though there were instances were my creativity was hitting a low point. Whether it's going to be canon or not is up to you, but there was something in the first chapter that very attentive readers who notice small details might have caught, and it plays into this chapter.

* * *

 **Chapter 12: Bonus Story**

First his mind was blank, and then everything snapped back in place as a blinding light met his eyes and he had to close them before he lost his focus.

"Ugh..." Ivan groaned as he struggled to get up. "W-what happened?" He flew off the ground and looked around- he was in the back alley of Hyrule Castle Town, and couldn't find his companion.

"Zelda?" He asked.

He tried to think of what happened- he remembered that they were traveling somewhere, but for some reason his head was drawing a blank. Certain details were incredibly fuzzy, and he had no idea what could have caused this. "Is this what the adults called a 'hangover'?" He remembered a certain case that involved a group of travelers in the forest who talked about that before they started drinking some strange stuff and acted like idiots (in the end, they all became stalfoes.)

Also, there was also considering what had been happening recently on the journey, so perhaps something was happening that Ivan needed to figure out.

He turned around- only to come directly face to face with another person.

"GYAH!" Ivan shrieked and flew backwards into the wall behind him. "Holy Nayru, you scared me to death!"

The person was a raggedy looking young woman in some sort of ratty brown poncho that appeared to be too big for her, and she had badly cropped black hair and blue eyes. She gave Ivan an odd look, as if trying to figure him out, and yet her eyes seemed blank as if she was also in some sort of daze.

"Uh, hello?" Ivan asked. "My name's Ivan. Have you seen my friend? Blonde haired girl with blue eyes- dresses in pink and has a sword and shield? Goes by Zelda?"

The girl paused, before she walked down the street of the alley.

"Hey, wait up!" Ivan demanded. "Can't you answer me?" The girl didn't respond and the fairy had no choice but to follow her out of the alley and into the town square until she stopped at the tree where Ivan once saw two men arguing with each other.

"Ok, seriously, what's going on?" Ivan asked the girl. She only shrugged and surveyed everything around them- it was a normal day and everyone was out and about.

So why did something feel wrong about this place?

"Did you hear?" A lady excitedly told her friend as they passed by the tree. "The Baron is coming back from his trip and he's still unattached!"

"I heard he brought his daughter with him." The other lady chuckled. "Maybe he was using her to keep the ladies away from him."

"Ugh, how boring." Ivan rolled his eyes. "Who cares? Why do people enjoy gossiping about other people so much? _'Oh, let's hear every juicy bit about how so-and-so did this or that!'_ " He spat. "Really?!"

"There he is right now!" The second lady pointed somewhere near the fountain. Out of bored interest (because he had nothing better to do), Ivan looked and almost did a double take.

"Zelda?!"

He flew towards the girl, but suddenly he collided into something that was invisible to him and fell back.

"What the-?" He tried to fly forward again, but the invisible wall was still there and kept him from joining his companion. "What the heck is this?!" He demanded to the girl, whose attention seemed to be on Zelda and the person she was with.

"You have no idea what is going on, do you?" He asked.

She didn't respond.

Ivan turned back to look at Zelda. To his surprise, the young child was dressed in the sort of clothes that the nobility of the town could afford to wear- they weren't extravagant, but there was embroidery in her outfit that would have required a very talented seamstress. Not only that, but she looked happy and lighthearted as she held the hand of the man next to her.

Speaking of which- Ivan took a good look at the man. He had very dark tanned skin, with familiar looking red eyes and long blonde hair that looked perfectly styled and tied back from his face. What almost made Ivan snort in amusement was that the man seemed to have a high opinion about himself since he wore an extravagant navy blue coat over a white shirt and gray tights that were almost too tight _and_ paired with near knee high boots.

' _Dandy'_ was the word that came to Ivan's mind.

So why was Zelda with this man? The young girl smiled at the Baron as she carefully held a wallet in her hand. "You promised me a sword for my birthday, father."

Wait, what?

The Baron smiled back. "I did, but I didn't say which birthday."

"I liked that white sword with the pearls inlaid in the handle." Zelda grew thoughtful. "It was pretty, but it seemed impractical." She shook her head and gave the Baron a shy glance. "Could... could we stop by that cafe and buy some of those sweets? The kind with the red bean paste?"

"You mean the manju?" The Baron asked. "I suppose we could make an exception."

Ivan watched as the two walked away. He turned to the girl, but then everything went dark and only he and the girl remained.

"She looks familiar." The girl frowned as she finally spoke in a quiet voice. "Have I... seen her somewhere?"

"If you saw her, then you would have seen me." Ivan pointed out.

"I... I think I might have heard before you." The girl confessed. "Your voice sounds familiar, but I can't recall exactly where I heard it."

The darkness faded and suddenly the two were out in some sort of wide space of land surrounded by tall hedges with vibrant flowers at their feet. Ivan could see a very extravagant house not far away from them, but his eyes were focused on those who were also present.

A Zelda who seemed to be about a few years older, with longer hair tied back and dressed in loose clothing, was sword fighting against another girl about her age. The Baron was close by and he was observing the fight with a calculating eye.

It was clear that the fight was intense- both girls were grunting and sweating, and their swords were clashing so fast that it was almost hard to watch- but Zelda seemed to be winning.

"Heyyah!" Zelda finally struck and sent the other girl's sword flying, before pointing her blade at the girl's neck.

"Geez!" The girl held her hands up in surrender. "You win!"

Zelda drew her sword back and gave the girl a sheepish grin. "Sorry."

The girl went to retrieve her sword and began heading back to the mansion. "I need a breather!" She told her sparring partner.

Zelda let out a deep sigh and glanced to the Baron, who clapped his hands in approval.

"Your skill is improving day by day." He praised. "Soon, it will be as if your memory will take over for you, before you even think to draw the sword out."

"It feels good!" Zelda let out a laugh. "But I'll never be as good as you, father!"

The Baron chuckled. "True- none will ever compare to me."

"Conceited fop." Ivan huffed.

"But I think you are doing so well, that you would make _her_ proud."

Zelda rested her hands on the handle of her sword. "But I thought mother never used a weapon. I thought she was a lady."

The Baron gave her a questioning look, and for a moment, he seemed lost in thought.

"When you fight," He murmured. "It's like... it's like those times all over again."

Zelda shot him a confused look, but the Baron suddenly glanced up in alert and his eyes narrowed at the spot where Ivan and the mystery girl were.

Ivan didn't know which was more alarming- the that the Baron might have noticed him, or that cold look in his eyes that made him shudder.

"Come." The Baron firmly commanded as he walked to Zelda and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I think it's time to continue your etiquette."

"I don't need to be a lady to impress everyone." Zelda laughed as she was lead away.

"You never know who will wish to impress, or try to deceive through an air of elegance."

Everything turned black.

"And then we change scene." Ivan guessed out loud.

As predicted, the scene _did_ change- Ivan and the girl found themselves in a huge, fancy looking room. It took a moment, but Ivan thought he recognized the ball room of Hyrule Castle, where a lot of dancers were already on the floor and dressed in beautiful gowns and suits or uniforms.

"Now where are we?" Ivan glanced around until he noticed Zelda and his jaw dropped.

Zelda was much older and she was beautiful- she wore a light amount of makeup, and only part of her hair was pulled back in a jeweled clip while the rest cascaded down her back. She was dressed in a very extravagant, but beautiful ball gown, and she was radiant with happiness and delight as she talked with a group of girls around her own age- it was a drastic change from the girl who had undergone much hardship.

"Father!" She grinned when she noticed the Baron before turning to an equally beautiful red haired girl in a lovely dress. "I'll be right back Malon." She squeezed Malon's arm in a friendly gesture and turned to go towards the Baron.

As Ivan had suspected, the Baron's clothes were even more outrageous when he was at a fancy social function.

"Thank you so much for all of this!" Zelda hugged the Baron. "I don't know what I did to deserve this, and I don't know how you managed it, but I love it all! I don't know how I could ever repay you for all of this!"

The Baron gave Zelda a smile that was full of pride and his eyes shown with a love that was undeniable. "Happy seventeenth birthday." He reached a hand out and cupped her face, but his smile started to falter as he stared at her. "You... you look almost _exactly_ like her." He seemed lost again. "It's as if she's still here with me..."

Even though Ivan had no idea who the heck this person was, it was clear as day that the man genuinely missed the woman on his mind, and the look in his eyes was almost heart breaking.

"Are you referring to mother?" Zelda asked.

The Baron froze for a moment, before he dropped his hand and sighed. "You really are a treasure, my sweet." He told her as he turned away from her.

"Father?" Zelda was concerned and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Is something wrong?"

"She... I'm sorry." He shook his head. "It's easy to forget how much you look like her, and that the both of you are not the same. I don't mean that in a bad way!" He quickly turned and grabbed Zelda's hand. "You are wonderful in your own way. You have gone through a lot of hardship in your life thus far, yet you have endured it all- you would have made her proud. If you knew her, you would have understand." He smiled in pain at the memories of the past.

"You miss her, don't you?" Zelda grew a little sad. "You loved her, didn't you?"

The Baron didn't respond. Instead, he leaned in and kissed Zelda's forehead. "Let's enjoy the night while we still can." He told her. "I'm sure you wish to dance with the prince."

"What's going on?!" Ivan demanded to the girl. "Zelda had a father, and that man isn't her father!" He turned to Zelda and began to yell as loud as he possibly could. "ZELDA! ZELDA, WAKE UP! I'M RIGHT HERE!"

Zelda's happiness vanished as she glanced around in confusion. "I... Ivan?" She then flinched.

"THIS IS'T REAL! YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE! REMEMBER ME AND SAY THAT NONE OF THIS IS REAL!"

"Wait- Ivan-" Zelda drew away from the Baron, who let go of her. "Ivan..." She closed her eyes and looked as if she was fighting to remember. "Ivan... the temple of time..."

Her eyes snapped open in alarm. "IVAN?!"

"ZELDA!"

"Where's Ivan?!" Zelda frantically demanded. She gathered up the sides of her dress in her hands and hurried away from the Baron as she tried to seek out her friend. "IVAN?!"

"ZELDA!" Ivan screamed as he bashed himself against the invisible wall. It had no effect, but it seemed to alert Zelda to Ivan, who turned to face him.

She let out another yell and ran straight for Ivan and the invisible wall, but before she could run into it, everything began to flicker around them and the dancers suddenly gained a distorted appearance, before they returned back to normal.

"Ivan!" Zelda let out a smile and held her hands out for the fairy. "Oh Din, I'm so sorry Ivan! I forgot about you!"

"Zelda!" Ivan cheered as he flew into her hands. "You had me worried to death! What's going on?!" He demanded. "And who the heck is the man claiming to be your father?!"

"I never said I was her father." The two turned to see the Baron, who seemed rather tense, but he was not looking at them- rather, he was looking at the girl that had been with Ivan.

"I _know_ her." The girl began as she struggled to remember. "That voice... that _name_."

"You know, I can forgive the fairy companion for interrupting this dream." The Baron hissed at the girl. "But for you to have the audacity to come into this realm and feign ignorance over all of this- it's almost unforgivable."

The girl looked at the Baron in confusion. "But I don't know how I came here. I don't even know who I am."

"It was bad enough to think that you- of _all_ beings- could be an ally to my Zelda." The Baron gritted his teeth in rage. "But to dare enter this realm of safety and threaten to take her away from me once again?!"

"What do you mean?" The girl asked in confusion. "I-" She paused. "Wait... your voice... I know it."

The Baron let out a chuckle and the girl flinched as everything around them flickered into a distortion and this time it didn't stop. It was almost nauseating to watch, and yet Zelda and Ivan were focused on the two who were apparently more than they seemed.

Without warning, The Baron let out a furious cry that first came out as a deep rumble before it rose in pitch and he took a sword out. He charged ahead and rose the sword up as he made to strike the girl, whose eyes suddenly widened in fear before she collapsed to the ground.

He would have struck the girl down, had Zelda quickly ran between the two and threw her arms out. "STOP!" She yelled out- her pleading eyes wide with fear to the man who quickly stopped his arm, before he struck down Zelda.

And then something happened that really confused Ivan- all three quickly changed form in a flash of light.

In place of Zelda was a girl who was almost exactly like Zelda and yet not quite- her clothes were different, her hair was styled differently (she had bangs and ribbons, and his Zelda didn't have those) and even her eyes were not exactly the same shade of blue.

"Z... Zelda?" Ivan glanced to the 'Baron'- he couldn't see his face, because his white hair was in the way, and his clothes (though still weird enough to deem him a 'dandy') had changed and were now in shades of white and red.

Apparently Zelda- if it still was Zelda- could see this change, because her eyes widened in confusion. "Wh-" She then glanced over her shoulder and turned to see that the girl had also changed form.

In her place was a blue haired, pale skinned girl dressed in a robe of purple and blue, with a blue diamond at the center.

The girl looked up to meet eyes with Zelda, and she let out a gasp of shock.

"Wait... you... that face." She trembled. "I fought you before." She grabbed her head as she struggled to remember. "When... where was it?!"

"Oh now you _do_ remember!" The white haired man mockingly praised the girl. "Do remember what you _did_?! It's because of you that we are now stuck in an endless loop in a tapestry of time!" He snarled. "It's because of you that she doesn't recognize me!" He pointed to Zelda. "It's because of you that she's locked away in this deep sleep and missing out on her childhood!"

There was a pause of silence.

Then, the Baron let out a laugh. It started out quiet, but then it grew frantic.

"What in Din's name were they thinking?!" He asked in between bouts of laughter. "They turned my enemy into an ally to my mistress, without my knowledge or my permission?! I could see that the boy felt guilty about what happened and did this, but _why_?!"

"Look, whatever beef you have with each other, leave us out of it!" Ivan snapped.

The two turned to the fairy who flew next to Zelda. The man ceased his laughter and shot a glare at Ivan, who paid no attention to it.

"I don't want Zelda to get caught up in this." Ivan continued. "As long as I'm still here, I'm not going to let you mess with her head! Yeah, she didn't get the childhood she deserved, but the one you gave isn't real! She isn't yours, and you can't replace her with whoever this other person is!"

At that moment, the image that replaced Ivan's Zelda had vanished to revert back to the Hero of Time, who was now dressed in a traveling outfit of some sort. She gave Ivan an appreciative smile, before glancing back to the red cloaked man. She wasn't upset that she had been deceived, but at the same time, she regarded him with caution.

"I'm not the girl that you are arguing about." Zelda told him. "I don't know what past you had and I'm sorry about whatever happened, but you can't just take it out on her." She glanced to the blue haired girl. "As long as I am here, I won't let you touch her."

"But as long as I am near you, she will not be allowed to be used by your hand." The man glared at the blue haired girl once more. "I refuse to be shared with another-"

" _That is enough!"_ A new voice suddenly rang out, and everything turned white. The figures of red and blue vanished from Zelda and Ivan, and they both fell back into their deep sleep, before they could begin to wonder who the owner of the voice was.

" _Like it or not, they made their decisions to try and give her a second chance."_ The voice continued. _"Yes- even the one you cherished decided to try and give a second chance to your hated enemy. Your counterpart was given a chance to make amends for the wrongs she committed against the both of you. One day you might understand... one day..."_

 _-?-_

Rauru glanced away from the sleeping girl and her fairy companion and looked at the two swords that were placed on a pedestal.

"I was afraid that something would have happened, if you were stuck in that conflict." He apologized to Zelda. "You were supposed to stay out of it, and yet there was something that I apparently did not foresee.

A long time ago, when Hyrule was first established, the founders discovered what was left of a once powerful sword. Only they knew the truth behind the blade and it was their hope that one day the wrongs that were committed against it could be made right again." Rauru glanced to the Master Sword.

"Unfortunately, it appears that old wounds have yet to heal. _He_ still mourns for her, even if the both of you are one and the same. And so long as you hold the two blades together, you will forever find yourself stuck between an ancient conflict." He then glanced to the other sword- the one that Zelda used, before drawing the Master Sword. Now that she was almost an adult, it might as well have been a mere kitchen blade in her hand, compared to the other one.

Rauru gently picked up the sword and examined the blue diamond in the hilt.

 _What should have been, what should be... I was the instigator to the downfall of the blade you wield in your hands. I was the one who should have been by your side._

 _I am bound to the thread of fate as much as you. My ultimate humiliation was thanks you._

The voices of the past rang out, clear as day, but only few could ever understand their true meaning. A time had long since passed, but it was never forgotten- that was the curse of those who knew and those who remained.

 _I hate you as much as you do... And yet, I want to pity you, for all the sorrow you've felt._

"How this blade came into the hands of the Kokiri is a mystery, and maybe you will find out." Rauru spoke to Zelda as he placed the Kokiri Sword back down. "And maybe one day, you will know the truth of these swords and give them the peace that they deserve. The reassurance that they haven't and will never be forgotten. Until then some tales are best left to be told for another day."

-later-

Zelda made a few practice moves against the scarecrow that was set up at Lon Lon Ranch, as Ivan watched on.

"You're getting better." Ivan complimented her. "I mean, it would help if there was someone to spare against now and then. Sure, repetition helps-"

"Or just let my memory take over for me." Zelda grinned before she frowned. "Memory?" Zelda held the Master Sword out and quietly examined it. She looked as if she was struggling to remember something from the past.

"Zelda?" Ivan concernedly asked.

The girl shook her head and gave Ivan a melancholic smile. "It's nothing." She replied.

* * *

. **..So, as you already figured out, this one shot was based off a theory in regards to the Kokiri Sword. Ever since completing Skyward Swaps, I wondered what would happen if that applied in this AU.**

 **So... I don't know when I will update again so how can I make the wait more fun... you know, I almost had an 'Ask Ivan' section for fun in this chapter, so I suppose I could do it for the next chapter, since he seems to be a favorite to some of you. You can ask him whatever you like in your reviews- I'm sure the replies will be amusing.**


	13. The Daughters of the Desert

Uh, hey guys, this is Ivan AKA the gender swapped Navi... who I just found out to be regarded as one of the most annoying video game characters ever. _Joy._

So, HolyMaiden24 thought it would be fun to make me reply to any questions you have for me, since I seem to be a fan favorite. I'm actually flattered, so I'll try to answer them as best as I can.

 **PokemonTrainer4700:** You're referring to that guy with the top hat, right? He seems like a nice guy. If puzzle solving is his thing, I guess he would be able to survive- Zelda is partly a puzzle based game, after all. If you have the patience to ignore how... _questionable_ our game universe is, then you'd have to be amazing at solving the puzzles, as well as a saint.

Honestly, I would love to meet this Layton guy by the sound of things.

 **Persona's Kingdom:** Honestly, being turned into a human (Hylian?) would suck because I wouldn't be able to fly anymore (and I'm actually kind of overweight for a fairy under all that glowing light, so I couldn't run for very long.) On the other hand, if it meant helping Zelda fight all those enemies, then that would be awesome. Then I'd try to write out a huge rant based book about everything wrong with Hyrule and try to get published.

Maybe I'd try to ask Malon out for a date while I'm at it.

 **HeroAlexa** : Zant.

Even with the knowledge of the canon versions, I would pick Zant. Ghirahim scares the **** out of me, and Zant (while best suited for the nut house) seems normal in comparison (and he leaves less mental scaring). If you regard the last chapter as canon, then yeah I have a good reason or two to hate and be afraid of Ghirahim.

 **Ok, now it's time for HolyMaiden24 to respond to everyone's questions:**

 **Persona's Kingdom:** Sorry for the cunfusion. Anyway, if you regard the bonus chapter as canon to this story, then those events were... uh... I want to say it takes place during the first 7 year slumber, but due to the whole mental connection everyone was sharing, it could easily exist at another moment of time travel because we also see the grown up version of Malon for a moment, and it could be that Ghirahim was using Zelda's memories to create an ideal world that included her friends.

I guess in the case of the AU and game canon, the hero has a case of Sleeping Beauty or Rip Van Winkle... uh, reverse age science biology stuff? It's something I wouldn't want to think to hard on, though I'd imagine it would confuse the heck out of Rauru if he had to watch over the hero.

mysteriousguy898: I think we already sent PMs in a discussion about this, didn't we?

 **HeroAlexa249:** I had an idea for something funny, but I wanted to keep it simple and stick with a bonus story that was different for a change and played with the kokiri sword theory. I admit I was kind of worried that people would figure out who the 'new' characters were as soon as I got into detail.

I am very tempted to do a cross over outtake with this fan fic and another fan fic I've been working on, partly because I already made an important reference to Twilight Twists in the other fic's only outtake to date. However, I'm sure that the readers of that fic would just be confused and I still feel weird about doing that outtake. (It doesn't have the same style of jokes.) It's going to be a set up for something minor in the bonus chapter that I wanted to do just for the heck of it.

 **Sorry for the long wait. December was all about finals and getting stuff organized, plus I was busy with HWW.**

 **I looked back at a few chapters and though I want to cringe over how bad my editing was, some were too funny to go back and change. Look how many times I've used the comma incorrectly- I haven't heard too many complaint and I'm thankful you guys have put up with that. I'm still trying to improve my editing abilities, as well as how I phrase certain things.**

 **The irony of it all is that I'm actually hoping to self publish a book I've written but it's gone through a LOT of edits and I recently had to get someone to help me out with that. I'm hoping that by the time I finish either Time's Trade or Hyrule Warriors Warped that the book will finally be published and you guys will know more about it.**

 **Anyway, lets get back to the story.**

 **Oh yeah, just as a warning: the intro deals with delivering a child through the non-traditional means, if anyone is uncomfortable with that sort of thing.**

* * *

 **Chapter 13: The Daughters of the Desert**

 _Our tale is one that rests upon the sands of the western region of Hyrule._

 _No one knows where the Gerudo originated. Though they were a proud, mighty tribe with a rich culture, they were refused to be truly integrated into the lands of Hyrule._

 _Was it because they were considered outsiders? Was their culture too distasteful to those who lived in the lush green lands of Hyrule? Whatever the reason, they were forced to reside in a region that was as hot as fire in the daylight while it was cold as winter in the dead of the night._

 _It was a tribe of women who refused to allow any man to be part of their tribe with the exception of the one who was allowed to become their king after being born into their tribe every one hundred years._

 _As a very selective tribe they would continue the purity of their bloodline by allowing this male to have many wives as he so desired. Until then they took up unsuspecting or all too willing men from Hyrule to carry down their bloodline, whether they be those who lined the streets in poverty, sons of lords, or knights of Hyrule._

 _When it came time for the destined son to be born, the Gerudo would search out for the best mate, with ideal qualities- good health and strength being the most desirable- and they would stay in their homeland until the child would be born. However most of them only sought to produce a male because they would be known as the mother of that son and would have the highest status of all the women of the tribe._

 _The young woman who was lucky enough to give birth to the destined child was an unexpected candidate. She was a strong warrior, yet she was far more frail in health than her 'sisters' so while she was carefully treated by the tribe's two elders, she received the less amount of attention for they believed that the child would most likely die before it would be born._

 _To the elder's lack of surprise, the girl's internal organs were damaged from the attempt to get her child out, and she died from the unstoppable internal bleeding._

 _Koume made a 'tsk' noise out of disappointment and looked away. "Pity- another lost candidate."_

" _A disappointment indeed, sister." Kotake nodded. "A disappointment to the very end, this one was."_

 _The friend of the dead girl was far less willing to give up. The stablehand's place was with the horses and didn't know anything about delivering a child, but she was determined to at least try to save the baby. She a took a knife by her side, stuck it in the boiling water that rested over the fire, and proceeded to do the horrible, yet urgent procedure of getting the child out._

" _What are you doing, stablehand?" Koume asked in a bored tone as the woman continued the bloody procedure. "For all we know, it'll be as pale skinned and ugly as your daughter, just like her Hylian father."_

 _Finally the woman reached in and pulled the shrieking child out of the destroyed womb. Without even bothering to sever the physical connection between mother and child, the woman checked the babe's gender and let out an excited gasp._

" _It's a boy!"_

 _The witches turned around in surprise as the stablehand permanently severed the link between mother and child with her blade. When they saw the child in the woman's hands, they grinned and there was a nasty, greedy look in their eyes._

" _Give him to us!" Koume went over and snatched the babe from the stablehand's hands before she could clean him off and held him up to Kotake in delight. Both sisters carefully examined the child over before they grinned in approval._

" _Perfectly healthy, this one is!" Koume crackled as the babe continued to cry with it's healthy set of lungs._

" _This one!" Kotake joyously crackled. "This is the child we've been seeking! He'll be the one to lead us to glory at last!"_

 **-Present day-**

"My grandmother was proud that she delivered the future king, but as time passed she realized there were signs that he would become something far more sinister."

Malon continued staring into the fireplace, before she turned back to us. I had momentarily stopped cleaning the Master Sword to listen to this peculiar tale and I couldn't bring myself to finish my chore when I understood what this story was detailing.

"According to Gerudo myth, the boar is a sign of great strength and power, but it's also a sign of greed and madness. A boar was killed to celebrate the birth of the new king, but it carried an illness that killed many members of the tribe. The insane part of it was that many of the expectant mothers and other newborns died that very same year."

"So how come you aren't part of the tribe?" Ivan asked as I pondered her words.

"My mother didn't look enough like a Gerudo, so my grandmother was forced to send her away." Malon scowled before she softened at a thought. "It's horrible and she could have gone through much worse, but I'm glad mom left because then she wouldn't have met my father and I probably wouldn't have been born."

"Is there anything else you could tell us about the Gerudo Valley?" I asked. "We are looking for a temple-"

"Actually, there is," She gave me a worried glance. "but it's in the desert and you have to get past the fortress. If you're trying to go against Ganondorf, you'll have to face his tribe and there's a reason he's known to be ruthless!"

"Yeah but Zelda has faced his phantom, a giant dodongo, several abominations in the Kakariko Village well, and a monster from a nursery rhyme." Ivan pointed out. "What's several female warriors to her?"

"I suppose you have a point." Malon admitted with a shudder.

The next morning I was on Epona's back and was about to leave, when I suddenly had a strange feeling in my gut and glanced to Malon.

"I've really appreciated all you've done for me." I told her. "Honestly, I can't count how many times I wanted to sleep in a bed, get across Hyrule quicker, or just have someone that we could talk to."

"Aw, shucks." Malon chuckled. "You come back safe and sound when this is all over, and then we can hang out like regular girls and talk about something fun for a change, you hear?"

"I will." I promised.

"You too, Ivan!" She pointed at my companion with a smirk.

"You can count on it!" He eagerly promised her.

 **-Gerudo Valley-**

The bridge into the valley had broke, so there was a huge gap and a deep drop into the river if you weren't careful.

Which is why I backed Epona up and urged her to gallop as fast as she could towards the bridge (Despite Ivan's frantic protests.).

"GIDDY UP EPONA!" I hollered as she charged ahead.

She sailed right over the gap and made it across the bridge without a hitch. I'll admit that I was a little afraid that we would fall to our death, but we made it and I reached a tent and a bald man with an impressive mustache that stood next to it with crossed arms.

"Well I'll be darned!" He declared. "I was half expecting your horse to not make the jump! Almost gave me a heart attack, you did!"

"Why is the bridge out?" I asked.

"Those Gerudo thieves broke the bridge! Now I'm a master craftsman from Kakariko, and normally this wouldn't be a problem for me to fix but all of my workers are gone! Dumb idiots said that working as carpenters isn't 'cool' and they went to the Gerudo Fortress to become thieves!"

"Well, I guess we'll find out what they are up to if we head over there." Ivan said. "I can't imagine they'd let guys in, due to the whole 'girls only' thing, but maybe Zelda could get in."

"Yeah, I should probably leave Epona here, just to be safe." I agreed as I got off the horse. "I mean, it shouldn't be that difficult, right?"

 **-five minutes later-**

I let out a yell as I was tossed into a room with no doors from a window and landed with a thud.

"Stupid kid! Get in there and keep quiet!" The person who threw me in barked before she left.

I moaned from where I landed. "Owww." So much for just _walking_ right in.

"I guess they _do_ practice a gender equal policy when it comes to intruders." Ivan pipped up before he chuckled. "But I can't believe how stupid they were to not take your stuff. I mean, the Master Sword is in plain sight!"

I groaned as I got up and glanced at the window where I saw a wooden window-thing attached to it. "Yeah... give me a minute." I stuffed my hand in the pouch and pulled out the longshot. As soon as I composed myself, I pressed the trigger and was sent right above the window ledge, where I landed and could see the fortress.

On one hand, I could see what looked like a stack of buildings built on top of one another and made of stones, on the ground I could see purple dressed red headed guards (like the one who threw me in) and on the other side, I was given a view of a land of yellow that seemed to go on and on as far as the eye could see.

"So this was where Ganondorf grew up." I mused. "Everything feels so different... the air tastes wrong and everything feels dry." I glanced down to see a few doors. "Well, I guess I should try to find the carpenters. Maybe we'll find a clue about the next temple."

"Provided that we can avoid the guards." Ivan cautioned.

 **-one stealth mission and lots of frustration later-**

"These guys are idiots!" Ivan complained as the last carpenter ran off- sorry, _skipped_ off. "Who in their right mind would even want to join up with Ganondorf's followers, let alone a tribe that has a women only policy!"

As for me, I was exhausted. I had to dodge several guards without being seen and without killing them, and to top it off, I had to face four of them who wielded two curved swords! With each victory I knew it would be a matter of time before they all charged after me!

"They did drop some interesting hints." Ivan thought. "From what I understand, to reach the Desert Colossus, we need the Eye of Truth-"

I heard a low whistle of approval and I turned in alarm to see a Gerudo clapping her hands. "Nice work! You must have some good thieving skills to get past us! I was going to call the others on you, but you were too interesting to just toss back into the cell, so I let you go about your way."

"I'd really not like to be considered a thief." I confessed as I cautiously held my sword out. "I'm not here to steal anything."

"Well anyway the name's Reyah." She introduced herself. "The exalted Nabooru, our leader, put me in charge of this fortress. She's the second in command to great Ganondorf, King of the Geruo Thieves..." Reyah trailed off in thought while I shuddered. I already didn't like the sound of this Nabooru; she sounded just as bad as Ganondorf.

"Anyway, her headquarters are in the Spirit Temple, which is at the end of the desert."

That caught our attention.

"Reyah, I need to go there!" I pleaded. "It's crucial that my partner and I find that desert!"

Reyah raised an eyebrow at me. "Are you sure that's a smart idea? Girl you are not a Gerudo and you would die before you even made a mile out there. Not to mention that there's a sandstorm going on out there."

"I promise I'll leave these grounds if you let me get access to your temple!"

Reyah nervously bit her lip. "It's not safe kid and even if you did, Nabooru isn't one to bargain with. And it'd be even worse if Koume and Kotake were there." She crossed her arms and looked me in the eye. "But if you do, could you find out what's happened to Nabooru? She's a friend of mine, and I'm concerned that something's happened to her. She's acted strange these past few years and it's not like her."

"I'll do what I can." I smiled. "On my honor as a friend who cares about other friends."

 **-later on-**

I hate deserts! Especially sand blowing in your face- it just gets in your eyes and you can't see jack! And it was hot!

I had to hide myself in a slightly worn brown poncho like cloak as I struggled to avoid sand in my eyes, sand pits, and Din knows what else. All the while, I cursed the Spirit Temple for being so far out here.

After a long trek, I finally came across some sort of stone shelter and went down into an underground room where there was nothing but torches and a gold colored skulltula.

"This is what they have to endure?!" I asked as I sat down and rested against the wall. "Holy cow- no wonder Ganondorf wanted Hyrule! This place is awful!"

"Not to mention this place is giving me too many questions." Ivan spoke as I took a canteen out and drank the water from it, before throwing my hood off. All I heard was the very loud sound of the sand blowing outside and the equally loud skulltulla crawling on the wall.

"Din, that skulltula is loud." I gasped and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

"So to recap what we learned, the Spirit Temple houses their patron deity, the Goddess of the Sands." Ivan said. "Other than that, it's supposedly a training ground to prepare the girls as children and as adults and if you complete both you are considered the mightiest of all Gerudo- or some crazy bull like that. There's already a training ground at the fortress, so I don't even-"

"Hey y'all!"

We both went silent at the familiar voice.

"The skulltula." Ivan turned to the gold skulltula. "It's the skulltula, isn't it?"

"Bingo, my observant friend!" The skulltula turned dark and changed into Shadow, who was wearing his cloak again.

"Freaking deserts!" He complained as he threw his hood off. "Sand got in my eyes more than once! I wasted time trying to sneak out here during the night, and then when I finally found this place, the sun was coming up! You know it's quite lame when you have to be your own opponent at a card time to pass the time, or pretend to have a debate over economic policies. I even tried to figure out where I wanted to live when this is all over and I was all 'maybe an ocean view wouldn't be so bad' but then I was like 'but I'd need to help get everyone a town to live in.'"

"I had some trouble myself." I confessed and recounted what happened to Shadow. As I did I felt my pouch move and I glanced down in confusion to see Ivan rummage through it. I just let it slide and continued talking, but as Shadow recounted how he saw a man on a flying carpet out in the desert, I saw Ivan flying right behind Shadow with the lens of truth in his possession. I watched as Ivan struggled to hold the lens right in front of him, and when he finally did, I glanced back to Shadow.

"So why are you here?" I asked.

"Just investigating." He shrugged. "I'm looking for something near the temple that could come in handy. It's a mirror shield that can reflect light as well as certain types of magic."

"Well, I suppose I could help you." I thought. "Just turn into a mouse or something else and I'll put you somewhere."

"Fair enough." Shadow turned into a mouse and held onto my sword belt. "By the way, thanks in advance for this!" He told me.

"It's a fair trade for what you did at the domain for me." I replied as Ivan handed the lens back to me and I went back up to find myself outside once more. As fate would have it, a poe was waiting for me on top of the sanctuary when I drew the lens of truth out.

"I'll be your guide on your way, but coming back I won't play!" He warned as he drifted off. "I'll show you the only way to go, so follow me and don't be slow!"

"Wait a minute!" I yelled as I hurried to follow the poe while holding the lens up at the same time. "You mean the Spirit Temple, correct?"

"To your question, I'll say yes. Ask me anything more and I'll only say less."

"He likes to speak in rhyme, doesn't he?" Ivan noticed as I made my way. "If I was bigger, I'd kick him in the knee."

"You better hurry to find the sage of Spirit!" Shadow added. "Or else you'll make someone quite irritate!"

"That doesn't rhyme!"

"I think it does!"

"NO! Farore not this again! Look, it's a matter of sound and syllable-"

"Ivan please shut up before I trap you in a cup!" I snapped before I groaned. "Now the both of you are making me rhyme!"

"Said the Hero of Time." Shadow snickered.

 **-desert colossus-**

I finally found myself in a place where the sand stopped blowing and was facing a huge wall of stone in which some strange ethereal looking woman was built into it and I saw an oasis on her right.

I threw my hood back in relief and I hurried into the temple as fast as I could so I could hide in the shade where it was cool.

Of course that meant smashing some pots that magically came to life and tried to attack me first, but beggars can't be choosers.

"Finally!" I sighed as I tore my cloak off and rested against one of two snake statues with markings written upon it. At the same time, Shadow reverted back to his preferred form, but he only took his hood off.

"I am so out of my element here." He sat next to me with a sigh. "There's sunlight everywhere and too little shade! There's no telling when Ganon-lork will find me!"

"Why Ganondorf finding you a bad thing?" I asked, but Ivan suddenly decided now was a good time to read out the markings on the snake.

"If you wish to travel in the future, you should return here with the power of silver in the past?"

He flew to the other snake and read that one. "If you want to proceed in the past, you should return here with the pure heart of a... child." He quickly flew up the stairs.

"Oh, _of course_!" He sarcastically yelled.

"What's got your sparkly boxers in a bunch?" Shadow asked Ivan with a slight smirk as he flew back to us.

"We need to go back to the past and Zelda has to be a kid again in order to enter this temple. I have no clue what 'power of silver' means, but come on! We have to make several treks across the desert if we do that!"

There was a moment's pause before I let out an unladylike curse and slammed my fist into the snake behind me, which caused Shadow to flinch.

"Hey, uh- Princess?" He raised a finger up. "Maybe I could fix that for you?"

"How?" I asked. "Wait until night falls and then turn into a giant bird and fly us back?"

"Ha ha, no." Shadow got up and pulled his harp out. "You know how the Master Sword is like a ship through time and that the port is in the Temple of Time? What if I told you I could teach you two songs that could lead you to there and back here?"

"Songs?" I raised an eyebrow. "Like the ones you play?"

"Yup." He nodded as he began to strum. "Music can literally transport you to other places if you have the right instruments."

"That sounds convenient-"

"So what will happen to you?" Ivan asked. "Are you going to transport yourself out of here?"

"I still have business to attend here." Shadow's eyes suddenly darkened. "Especially if I set my eyes on those two witches."

"Shadow?" I gave him a nervous look. There was something in his eyes that was unsettling to me- it was like that time in the volcano and in the domain, but there was something not right. And was it my imagination or was his skin darkening a little while the red in his eyes grew brighter?

"It's because of them that someone close to me had to die and I couldn't do a thing about it!" He hissed and gritted his teeth. "And who knows what else they've done. They aren't any different than their surrogate son! If I ever see them, I'll rip them off their brooms and-"

"Shadow?!" my voice raised in concern, which made Shadow snap awake from this thoughts. He stared at me as if I wasn't there for a moment, but then he shook his head and seemed as if he were in a stupor during a recovery. At the same time, his coloring returned back to it's normal hue.

"Never mind." His demeanor somewhat reverted back, but he still seemed a little tense. "Let's... let's just get back to the songs."

 **-Temple of time-**

"Ok, so what did you see with the lens of truth?" I asked Ivan as I walked to the pedestal of time.

"Zelda." Ivan quietly began. "You know that Shadow told us that his current form isn't his real form, right?"

"I think so. Did he?"

"I looked into the lens and he was just a mass of darkness. The weird part was that the stuff was coming from the mirror he always carries with him."

"So whatever is in the mirror is Shadow's real body." I realized.

"Yeah, but what _is_ he? What is in the mirror, and what is the mirror supposed to be?"

"I know it's important to him, because he didn't want me to break it." I thought back to the past few times we saw him. "He was really out of it before we went into the Fire Temple, and it was the same with the Spirit Temple just awhile ago. I just wish I knew what his agenda is in all of this."

"Well, I know that we need to get him to talk the next time we see him, because I'm beginning to suspect that he's not our ally."

I took the Master Sword out and held it over the pedestal. "Well, let's get the temple out of the way first." I told Ivan before I sent the sword back in.

 **-Meanwhile-**

"Bah, ba-da, bah, bah, bahhh." Shadow sang a song he used to hear in the shops around Hyrule as he walked around the temple while tossing a bomb in his hand. He wasn't able to get too far, what with only having access to the child side of the whole place.

"Ok, if I was a nasty old hag, where would I be?" He wondered to himself.

 **-Spirit Temple (seven years earlier)-**

The biggest key change I saw upon returning to the temple was a Gerudo woman who was kneeling in front of the hole Ivan told me about. Just as I was debating on whether to hide or run off until the Gerudo could disappear, she seemed to sense my presence and quickly got up and spun around to face me.

"Eek!" I squeaked and flinched when she caught me.

"Are... are you a Hylian?!" She asked in surprise. "How in the name of the Sand Goddess did you cross the desert?! Never mind that- _how_ did you manage to get past the fortress?! We blocked the bridge off and everything!"

"Uh... magic?" I lamely responded.

The lady continued to give me a suspicious glance as I reluctantly walked over so that she wouldn't have to yell at me. I observed her and realized that she was actually really pretty and wore more jewelry than the other Gerudo. She also looked to be around the age I would be in seven years from now.

"Why are you here?" She demanded.

"Uh-" Crud. I couldn't tell her the reason why I was here if she was a member of the Gerudo. She'd tell Ganondorf about me! "Nothing really." I finally managed to reply.

The Gerudo hummed in thought. "Nothing really?" she placed her hands on her hips and cracked a smile that reeked of some sort of scheme going on in her mind that made me nervous. "Tell you what kid- you got perfect timing and I won't say a word if you do me a huge favor." She suddenly frowned. "Wait a second, I have to ask you first... you wouldn't be one of Ganondorf's-" she paused '-followers, are you?"

"We hate Ganondorf!" Ivan blurted out before I could say a word.

Darnit Ivan!

To my surprise, the Gerudo laughed. "You got guts fairy! I think I like you!" She turned to me with a grin. "And you?"

"I... he... he has done horrible things." I felt my confidence returned and I looked her in the eye. "I don't care what you guys think of him. He's a terrible man and is responsible for the death of so many people I cared about."

The Gerudo's humorous side vanished. "Yeah... I'd say the same too." She confessed as her eyes narrowed in anger, before she managed to give me a smile. "So first off, the name's Nabooru. I consider myself a lone wolf thief- but don't get me wrong!" She quickly added. "Though we're both thieves, I'm completely different from Ganondorf. I only steal what I need, and from the rich at that! With his followers, he steals from women and children, and he even went as far as to kill people! And there is no way I'd ever bow to such a man, even if he's my king!"

This was Nabrooru?! She... was not exactly what I was expecting. I imagined her to be a hardened warrior like Ganondorf and just as cruel. This girl was like the cool older sister you always wanted to have.

"So, anyway," Nabooru calmed down "What's your name?"

"Zelda." I answered.

"Zelda? What kind of a name is that?"

"So why do you need our help?" Ivan jumped in before I could snap back at Nabrooru.

"Oh yeah- could you go through this tiny hole and get the treasure inside?" She asked. "It's a pair of silver gauntlets, and you can use them to push and pull heavy things. But don't you dare think of taking them for yourself!" She warned and pointed at me. "They won't fit a kid like you, so I want you to be a good girl and give them to me! Look, I need them to get further into the temple and find out what Ganondorf is up to, and then I can take the treasure inside and mess his plans up!"

"I suppose I could help." I hated that she was treating me like a kid after all I had to endure (more than what _she_ probably had to endure) but I had no choice.

"Nice!" She clapped her hands together in glee as she moved to the side. "Lets give Ganondorf and his followers a big surprise, shall we? Oh yeah, I promise to do something really nice for you in return."

"Uh... thanks?" I responded as I got to the hole and went on my knees.

"Good luck kid!" She almost sang as I crawled through the hole.

 **-later on-**

"I'm kind of surprised that Nabrooru isn't anything like Ganondorf." Ivan confessed as we navigated the temple. "Bossy, yeah, but not horrible."

"I don't know if I like her just yet." I frowned. "She treated me like a little kid-"

"You are a kid, Zelda."

"Not after all I've done!" I complained. "And besides, she's still regarded as second in command to Ganondorf seven years later. How do we know that she's not trying to trick us?"

"You know, maybe we should keep our mouths shut if this is Ganondorf's headquarters." Ivan sounded afraid. "Just... just in case."

I had to agree with him, so we pressed onward without saying a word.

I mean, there wasn't really much in this temple. It was filled with traps, which was odd for a place of worship, but I remembered what Ivan heard about this place being a possible training ground for the Gerudo. Keyword: _possible_.

I think that they were just set up to keep enemies out.

Other than that, there seem to be a lot of light based puzzles, what with all the creepy suns that were on the walls and all.

We finally emerged into a large room, where I found a statue of a woman sitting cross legged with her palms out and she was adorned with some sort of snake motif, like the snake statues we found earlier.

"It's easy to keep forgetting that everyone doesn't share the same deity." I said as I marveled at the statue. "I wonder if Ganondorf is a religious man."

"Well considering that he was after an artifact that belongs to another set of Goddesses, I'd say no." Ivan replied. "The guy must have a serious grudge against us if he is so willing to turn his back on this valley."

"I wouldn't want to live here." I confessed. "I mean, I see how one would like this place, but at the same time, it's harsh and unforgiving. How can you grow crops or raise children here?"

I crossed my arms and sighed. "I hope Shadow is doing ok in the future. I don't know if I should be worried about the witches finding him, or his anger getting the best of him."

 **-sometime in the future-**

"Ok, this is getting stupid." Shadow told himself as he stared up at the statue of the Sand Goddess inside the temple. "I'm taking too many risks here as is."

He sighed as he sat down and rested against the wall. "Princess better hurry up soon."

Without warning the temperature dropped from being warm to freezing cold.

Shadow looked around in confusion and got on his feet. He reached for his mirror and was ready to summon up some kind of weapon of use before he looked up-

-only to get a face full of ice and loose consciousness.

The room was filled with crackling laughter as the dark being was now completely trapped in a block of magical ice.

 **-Spirit Temple (seven years earlier)-**

The next room we went into was L-shaped and I found myself staring at some sort of large suit of armor with a huge axe. "Uh, what is this?" I asked as I noticed that the door behind it was covered in bars.

It was going to be one of those rooms, was it?

I tapped the armor with my sword.

The suit of armor rose up and rose it's axe over it's head.

I quickly dodged out of the way before it could strike a blow and rolled over a few times before getting myself up.

"Ok, he's going to knock me over if I'm not fast enough!" I told Ivan as the armor slowly walked towards me.

"Then use your speed against him!" He advised back.

I took a gulp and prepared myself to try to outwit the larger opponent, or else risk getting cut in half by the huge awe.

It was not the easiest battle I ever had- it made that one monster in the well, Gohma, Barinade, and Dodongo look like pushovers. The suit of armor even knocked down a few pillars with it's axe when it tried to get at me! In the end, I took Ivan's advice and slashed at my opponent when he was distracted or trying to pull the axe out, before quickly running away.

It wasn't until I stabbed him in the back with my sword that he finally collapsed to his knees and died in a burst of blue fire.

"Oh sweet Farore." I collapsed to the floor as the bars to the door lifted up. "That was intense!"

"I have to admit, I was getting jittery watching that." Ivan replied as he floated next to be. "But hey, you defeated him as a child! Who says that children can't be as awesome as adults?"

"Except I have the experience of fighting as an adult." I pointed out, but I smiled. "Still, it felt pretty good."

After a moment of rest, I entered through the door and found myself in a dark corridor, through which I emerged back outside to find myself in the hand of the Sand Goddess, which also contained a chest.

"HEY!"

I looked out to see a familiar brown owl resting on the other hand of the Goddess; I had no idea how he got so far out here, but I was glad to see him.

"Surprised to see me?" Kaepora Gaebora asked. "I myself am surprised to see you out here, but I shouldn't expect less from you."

"Hello again, Mr. Gaebora." I smiled and waved. "You would not believe what I have been through since the last time we saw each other. I have faced several monsters, traveled through time, and now I'm trying to save Hyrule's future! It's been scary, but I've done what I had to do and press on."

"Ah, I see that there is a maturity far beyond your years inside you." He noted. "I thought the tales were legends, but you have indeed traveled across time. You have grown up into an adult, haven't you?"

"I kind of wish I could have had the mind of a child for much longer." I confessed. "But why are you here?"

"To give you a warning." He told me. "Maybe it's not my time anymore, so here is my las advice: the witches who reside here have proven to be a hinderance to your journey. One holds power over fire and the other over ice- you cannot defeat them unless you can reflect their power right back at them! Remember that one element is weak against the other- you will know what I mean when you face them."

"Thank you!" I yelled as Kaepora Gaebora began to flap his wings and rose into the air.

"I shall continue to watch over you, my child!" He assured me before he took to the sky and flew off.

"That was really helpful." Ivan commented as I went to open the chest and pulled out a pair of gauntlets with silver platings (I think) attached to them.

"I guess these are it." I examined them carefully. "We could use these to move that large block on the other side of the entrance- if it works that is."

"Except they wont fit you." Ivan pointed, before reluctantly adding. "And we also promised Nabooru that we'd-"

Without warning, we heard a piercing scream.

"What the-?" I looked around in alarm.

"Zelda look down!" Ivan panicked. I obeyed and saw what looked like two old women on brooms circling around a purplish circle on the ground. Inside that circle was Nabooru, who was being sucked in and was already waist deep inside it.

"You fiends!" Nabooru yelled. "Ganondorf's minions!"

"Traitor!" One of the witches snarled in an unbearable crackling voice. "Ganondorf will deem a proper punishment for you!"

"To think that one of his favorites would turn against him!" The other witch growled in an equally horrible voice. "We supported your training because of your potential and this is how you repay us?!"

Nabrooru must have sensed me, because then I heard her yell "Zelda get out of here! Don't let them get you with their magic!"

Although I found myself worried for Nabooru and wanted to help her, I also knew that there was nothing I could do at that moment. I quickly got the Ocarina out and quickly played the first song I could think of, before the witches could find me and Ivan and we vanished from the desert.

Seconds later, we appeared back in the temple of time.

"Oh that was close!" I sighed as I lowered the Ocarina from my mouth. Still, I felt concerned for Nabooru and wondered what the witches were going to do to her.

"I hope Nabrooru will be ok." Ivan was also concerned. "We know she's alive seven years later."

"It's what happened to her is what I'm afraid of." I responded.

Just what did Ganondorf and those witches do to her to make her his second in command against her will? I glanced to the chamber where the Master Sword was waiting for me and decided that I would find out in seven years time.

 **-Seven years into the future-**

 _The sky was a strange dark brown hue, and thunder was crashing all around them._

 _He watched in terror as his girl crawled her way from the colossal monster, who was covered in shadow and whose eyes broke through the darkness. Her golden hair was stained with the blood that ran down her face, and one hand was clutching her stomach as the pink and white clothing turned into a dark crimson._

 _He couldn't reach her, as a wall of fire separated them._

 _Her hand struggled to reach out towards him. "The Master Sword-" She wheezed as the dark figure drew closer "-Hand it to me!"_

 _He turned in alarm to see that the sword was sticking in the ground, right beside him. He tried to grab it, but when he did, it began to burn his hand like the sun would burn him in his cloak of darkness._

" _Hurry!" She pleaded. "Please hurry-"_

 _He heard a horrible sound, and he turned in time to watch as the beast picked up his prey by her arm and held her up off the ground like she was a disgusting creature he wanted to keep away from him, before he swung some sort of overgrown sai or trident into his Zelda's stomach._

 _She let out a scream as her blood sprayed out in ruby rain, and when the beast let go of her, she began to fall._

" _ZELDA!" He screamed and reached a hand out towards her, but there was nothing he could do. He led her to her death and it was all his fault._

" _ **Beware the Boar my son,"**_ _A voice hissed as everything turned dark and Zelda's body became draped in white cloth, which had ends that extended out and flapped in the air like flags "_ _ **for in the end, the madness of the Boar consumes us all in greed and blood."**_

 _Zelda's body fell towards what looked like an open coffin made of pure white marble and lined with silk. By the time she fell into it and the cloth wrapped itself around her, her hands were already crossed over her chest. Dressed in white, with hints of soft blues and greens and dainty white flowers woven in her hair- never had death seemed to look so beautiful._

 _He let out a scream as the top of the coffin slammed shut over the maiden for the rest of eternity._

"AAAAGGHHH!" Shadow let out a gasp of air after letting out his scream and he could feel something wrapped around his body.

When Shadow was finally able to calm down and take a moment to be aware of himself, he found that he was tied up in chains and was face to face with what he regarded to be the two most ugliest women he ever had the misfortune to gaze upon.

"He's awake sister!" Koume crackled in delight.

"Indeed he is!" Her twin replied. "Must of had a bad dream, he did!"

Shadow let out an annoyed sigh. "Well if it isn't the crabby old bags who raised Ganondorf. I finally see where is get's his twisted sense of humor."

"And we see an annoyance that has been pestering Ganondorf for some time!" Koume snarled. "We know you've been helping the hero! We've been keeping a close eye on you for quite some time!"

"So I take it you want me to spill the guts, right?" Shadow smirked. "Sorry, but there's nothing you can offer me to change my mind."

"True, but we are also more than observant!" Kotake boasted as Koume flew behind Shadow and she barked "Pull!"

Shadow felt the chains yank him away from the blue witch and he felt himself be pulled to some unknown destination through a tunnel of darkness. It wasn't until the sunlight almost blinded him that he realized what she meant by that command or what the chains were for.

In mere seconds he felt the light begin to burn every inch of his body.

It was worst than anything imaginable and he couldn't prevent himself from letting out a scream as it ate away at his body. Worse yet, for some reason he couldn't even shift his body into something that could allow him to escape!

He let out a string of curses as he writhed in the sunlight, and they became more vulgar the longer he was exposed to the sunlight.

Koume watched in amusement as the shadow creature writhed on the palm of the outside statue of the Goddess. She laughed as Kotake pulled the other end of the chain forward and Shadow was forced back into the darkness.

"We know your weakness, boy!" Kotake snarled as Koume flew in. "Those chains are designed to cancel out your magic! So start talking, or else we'll leave you out to dry like jerky!"

Shadow took deep breaths as he twitched and shivered on the ground. His skin felt like it was being twisted up or drying up like in the winter time- Goddesses, it hurt so badly that he wanted to cry!

"Spit it out!" Koume barked. "Otherwise we'll do much worse to that pink dressed girl that you're so fond of!"

They waited as Shadow continued to twitch and he slowly turned on his side to face them and revealed a face as was partly darkened on one side. He stared at them as he recovered, but he could barely mange after the amount of exposure he sustained.

"Hey, what kind of cream do you two use for your face?" Shadow wheezed.

"What?" Koume sharply asked.

"Cause it's doing the opposite of what you wanted!" Shadow let out a hoarse laugh.

"Insolent whelp!" Kotake shrieked as she sent Shadow back out into the light. "You have no respect for your elders!"

This time they let him out for an even longer amount of time and Shadow screamed as the pain increased. Gradually his body began to turn black from the exposure and even his clothes and gauntlet were growing dark.

All this pain was overwhelming. He tried to remind himself over and over in his head that this was for Hyrule, like it was the only thing to make it through and keep his sanity, but it was all too overwhelming.

Even trying to think of Zelda wasn't enough to block out the unseen fire that was burning him alive.

* * *

 **So the beginning was from what I thought was going to be a role-swap fan fic from last year, but I lost interest in it and gave up. I still liked that opening and I wanted to put it in here, since it's fitting for the setting and background.**

 **I really hate sneaking through the Gerudo Fortress. It's the most nerve shaking part of the whole game and I can't imagine Zelda (or Link in the game universe) would willingly shoot an arrow at the guards. That's mainly why I didn't cover that section in this story, other than that it just slows the chapter down.**

 **Also I don't know what the deal is with the Spirit Temple, other than it was Ganondorf's old HQ and that it was the house of their deity. I think that only true Gerudo could survive the trek to the temple and back AND survive the traps inside, but that's obviously a given. I know there's a training grounds at the fortress, but there has to be a reason why the temple has a child and adult section. Gerudo culture seems very interesting to me because it is mysterious as it is detailed.**

 **Part two will hopefully come out sometime this month.**


	14. The mothers of evil

**mysteriousguy898: Maybe the Gerudo already have a bunch of cool gadgets and didn't want any of the 'useless junk.' They DID take Link's stuff away in the manga when he got thrown in jail.**

 **DragonRaider97: You're welcome. :) I hope the rest of the story will continue to be enjoyable to you and the others.**

 **HeroAlexa249: Well in the canon version, Zelda IS part ninja, so it would make sense here. Ugh, Nintendo why can't you release a video game of Zelda as Sheik between those 7 years? It could be an awesome stealth based game!**

 **Oh, and I think you might enjoy the boss fight here.**

And this is where I take liberties with the story again.

* * *

 **Chapter 14: The mothers of evil**

Shadow felt like he was going to vomit, but how could he when he could barely move his body?

The witches had their fun of tugging and pulling in and out of the sunlight to the point that almost every inch of him had turned completely black and parts of his body had been exposed to the point that he couldn't feel them anymore. When he tried to drag his hand across the ground, his fingers left a trail of dark smudges like charcoal on paper.

If he waited long enough, he could recover and regrow anything lost since technically this body was made of a substance that came from the mirror. It still hurt and it got to the point where he literally cried from the pain, like he was doing right now.

"Pathetic." Koume sighed. "Our son would have lasted longer than this. This one isn't even a man- look how he cries like a pathetic new born!"

"We can brake his body, but what about his spirit, hmm?" Kotake wondered.

"D..do y-your-" Shadow wheezed "w-w-wors-" he gave up. It took everything just to talk.

"Fine then!" Koume grinned. "Let's see just how devoted you are to your 'Princess'!"

"We know she's searching for the sages." Kotake grinned. "Eventually, she'll have to return to the old town to confront Ganondorf."

Shadow opened his eyes to reveal that the redness in them began to pore out and take over the white. It required a bit of the darkness to try to keep him from dying, to the point that it was effecting part of his physical form, but even that couldn't keep him from feeling this awful.

"And once she does, an army of monsters will be waiting for her! They'll overpower her and she'll be too exhausted to fight Ganondorf when he comes to deliver the final blow!"

"Oh, even better!" Koume then gave Shadow a grin that sickened him to the core. "What if... we get to make her our puppet like we did to that dragon? Or better yet, Ganondorf get's to decapitate her like he did to the queen of Hyrule and give it to you as a keepsake?"

Shadow's eyes widened, but that was all he could manage to do. If he could, he would have lashed out at the witches, but for once his condition came into his favor to prevent him from doing so, and he laid still.

"I think this is getting boring." Koume sighed as she turned to her sister. "Send him away."

Both sisters failed to see the dark glare flare up in Shadow's eyes before they sent him away in a burst of magic; however, they also knew that everything was about to go to plan.

"Now let's tell Ganondorf that the brat took the bait." Kotake snickered as she readied another spell.

 **-meanwhile-**

I finally returned back to the desert as an adult and now I was in the temple and in front of the large stone blocking my way into the left side of the chambers.

And I also had a new pair of accessories on my arms.

"Alright, let's see how well these work." I cracked my knuckles and shook my fingers out before I approached the huge stone block in the middle of the opening of the right hall. I placed my hands on the stone and took a dee breath before I pushed up against it.

It worked- it actually, honest to Nayru worked! I was able to push the huge block half a foot away from where it was positioned.

"That's awesome!" Ivan cheered as for once he was not trying to question how something that seemed impossible.

"I love these!" I grinned at the gauntlets before I eagerly continued to push the stone away until it fell into a huge hole on the other side and permitted me to walk over it and into the other side of the hall.

"Alright, now let's see what fun there is to be had in this temple, now that I'm an adult." I clapped my hands together.

 **-Rolling boulder room-**

"This looks intimidating, but this is nothing!" I tried to reassure myself as I watched three or so boulders roll back and forth in a room while avoiding the small gaps in the walls. One quick glance of the silver rupees told me what had to be done in here.

It was actually a fun puzzle.

 **-mirror room (one of many)-**

"Ok, I see a huge mirror with more sun switches." I stated as I observed the room. Thinking that I knew what to do, I headed to the mirror, when all of the sudden something knocked right into me and I found myself falling to the ground.

"What the-?" I glanced around, but there was nothing that could have hit me.

Unless...

I took out the lens of truth and saw a large disembodied hand about half my size bouncing up and down on the floor, but I could sense that it was looking at me.

"What is it?" Ivan asked.

Realizing that Ivan would have a heart attack if I told him, I quickly got up and proceeded to smite the large hand that my companion hated with all of his being.

Oh come on, do you really think it would have been funny for me if I let him?

 **-Iron Knuckle part 2-**

...

...

... Why do the goddesses hate me so?

- **ten minutes later-**

Once more, we found ourselves outside on one of the hands of the Sand Goddess, which also bore a chest. Inside that chest was the very mirror shield that Kaepora Gabora told me about.

"Cool." I grinned as I held it up to examine the silvery surface with the Gerudo insignia etched upon it.

"Yeah, don't try to examine yourself too much with that." Ivan joked.

"Yeah, well maybe the monsters will get distracted by their reflection and either get too vain to attack or will run off in fright!" I countered.

"If they ran into any traps, then I'll laugh my butt off." Ivan cracked back. "Still, I can see this being used to reflect the sunlight we keep seeing in this temple. Seriously, why is this place of worship filled with traps?"

"It's a tribe of thieves Ivan. End of story."

He gave up.

 **-Moving Wall Trap-**

"Uh..." I nervously looked up at the wall with sections that kept shifting into spikes.

This was going to be hard, wasn't it?

 **-Sometime lat-**

 **-You know, I should sue the writer for making me say 'later' too many times. I should have been getting paid by the word for this. A rupee for each word, and 20 for every time I'm forced to write 'later'-**

 _You are totally getting paid, Larry. I have way too many rupees from Hyrule Warriors to keep to myself and I can't use them as currency in the real world._

 **-You don't even care about writing out these temples and your making me write 'later' each time. You should owe me 80 rupees just through saying it four times in this stupid-**

 _-Please resume your job, Larry. The readers are probably getting annoyed-_

 **-Fine. (Stupid fan fic writer.)-**

 **-In yet another mirror chamber puzzle-**

"Ok, I think I can guess what this puzzle will be like." I glanced at the large mirror at the right of the room, as well as a set of chains that were near it. Being the idiot that I was at the time, I didn't bother to glance down the ledge and went ahead to smack the crystal behind the bars with my sword, in order to open up up the door ahead of me.

Our observations told us that the puzzle would involve another case of manipulating the light from outside with the use of a mirror. I finally was able to manipulate the light to aim at the large mirror behind the bars-

-And that was when I heard a very familiar scream of pain.

"Oh crud, I forgot that Shadow was here!" I cursed as I raced back to the mirror room as fast as I could, with Ivan trailing behind me.

When I entered the correct room, I jumped down the ledge, only to find that Shadow was not only chained to the chains that went from floor to ceiling, but he looked charred like he was a piece of burnt meat that had been cooked for too long, or a piece of charcoal.

I didn't even hesitate to quickly tear my cloak out and covered Shadow up, but it wasn't enough, as it barely covered his body.

"What do I do, what do I do?!" I looked around and noticed a sun. Having no idea what else to do, I bounced the light from the mirror shield onto it, and the chains lowered the platform we were on down into the room of the goddess. In the meantime, I was able to gently push Shadow away from the sunlight, but I noticed that as I did, his body left behind a trail of black markings up on the ground.

"What happened to you?!" Ivan asked as he flew to Shadow's side. Good Nayru, Shadow looked awful- his face was almost completely pitch black, even though patches of it were slowly fading back to it's natural hue, and his eyes were fully red.

The dark being quit writhing and was able to slowly look between my partner and I. It look all of his strength to finally speak to us.

"I... want-" He gulped "-to punch old ladies in the face."

"He must have seen the witches." Ivan interpreted the insult.

"D-Din-" Shadow moved a trembling hand to his chains and struggled to point at the section that connected him to the other chains. "F-f-fire."

I took the hint and set the chain on fire with the magic crystal. The chain snapped and he was no longer connected to it, but he was still covered in chains.

"Ok, give me a minute." I glanced at the beam of light I was in and looked out to see the statue's face.

"Oh," I realized and bit my lip. "I hope the Gerudo can forgive me for this." I aimed the mirror shield at the face and watched as the face cracked, crumbled, and broke apart to reveal a gate behind the face.

"Uh, that didn't count as a hate crime, does it?" Ivan asked. "We just destroyed the statue of a Gerudo goddess."

I went to help take the chains off Shadow, though I was stumped as to how to get him out of here.

"How aren't you dead?!" Ivan asked Shadow. "You look like a crispy fried cuccoo gone wrong!"

Shadow was able to glare at Ivan as he pointed to the mirror. "M-mirror- magic."

"Hey, do you mind if I carry you?" I asked. When Shadow didn't respond, I tried to hold him against me. As I did, I realized that he felt lighter than he should have been, and any part of him that touched me left behind what looked like black soot.

"We got to get him out of here as soon as possible." I grimaced, before I used the long shot to make my way to the secret door in the goddess.

"Hey, you don't think he's the sage, do you?" Ivan asked me before I opened the door. "I hate to say it, but you know how it goes with them."

"If it ends his suffering, then I won't mind it." I confessed as I opened the door to find myself in a familiar looking room.

And across the room were two witches that were tending to another Iron Knuckle- the very same witches who sucked Nabooru into a vortex seven years ago.

"Aw crud." Ivan groaned as the representative to what was on our minds. This alerted the witches, who turned to face us.

"Ho ho ho!" The blue witch turned around with a laugh. "Looks like someone is here, Koume!"

"Hee hee hee!" The red witch did the same thing. "Looks like it, Kotake!"

They both got on their brooms and floated into the air. "What an outrageous fellow she is, to intrude so boldly into our temple!" Kotake laughed. "And look- the piece of charcoal is still alive!"

"And I see you're still wrinkled old bags!" Shadow wheezed out in a laugh.

"What did you do to him?!" I demanded.

"Oh, we got what we needed from him!" Koume snickered. "But seeing as you both are just as good as dead as you are alive to our son, we should let our servant deal with you and teach you a lesson!"

They turned to the Iron Knuckle and flew next to it. "Oh loyal minion... Destroy this intruder on our behalf!"

The two vanished into two flames. In turn, the Iron Knuckle suddenly came to life and raised his arms up, before it realized something was missing.

I let out a chuckle as it looked at his hands in confusion. "Pfft!" Ivan let out a laugh.

Then it snapped it's fingers and made it's axe appear in it's hand and we both shut up.

"Here!" I quickly hurried to a corner and set Shadow on the ground as I heard the Iron Knuckle make it's way towards me.

"W-wait!" Shadow forced himself to reach into his mirror and pulled out a blue crystal. "It's a barrier!" He sighed and collapsed against the wall.

I quickly spun around with the crystal in my hand and watched as I became incased in a blue diamond. Not knowing what to expect, I took the Master Sword out and got ready for the same tactic as before.

"Wait a minute!" Ivan cautioned. "Something's not right about this one!"

"What?" I turned around in confusion, but this allowed the Iron Knuckle to slam it's axe right into me. Or at least it would have, if the axe didn't bounce into the crystal. The force sent me hurling right into the wall, right next to Shadow.

As Ivan let out a string of horrified curses, I gave Shadow a thumbs up before I pushed myself off the ground and returned back into the fray.

This time Ivan stayed quiet as I fought the Iron Knuckle. Unlike the last two, this one seemed a lot quicker and had less difficulty hurling the axe around, which meant I had to be extra cautious. I was able to land a few blows, but eventually the crystal barrier faded and I had to be even more cautious. It didn't help that this Iron Knuckle seemed determined to kill me.

"Heyah!" I yelled as I finally struck my sword down onto the head of the Iron Knuckle.

The helmet split in half and the armor fell off the Iron Knuckle and burned away when it touched the ground and gradually revealed that a Gerudo woman had been inside it the whole time.

I stared as she fell to her knees and was gasping for air. It was when she looked up with a look of alarm that I was able to recognize her- she looked as if she barely aged, yet it was clear that time had enhanced her beauty.

"Nabrooru?!" I asked.

Her eyes were wide as she tried to comprehend her surroundings. "Wh-where am I?" She asked.

Before anyone could say a word, the blue witch materialized at Nabooru's right. The Gerudo turned around with a look of fear in her tensed features and looked ready to run for it.

"Well, well..." Kotake said. "Looks like she's back to normal Koume."

"She's just a little girl, but she commands a lot of respect among the Gerudo, Kotake." The red witch noted as she appeared.

"Maybe we should make her work for the Great Ganondorf for a little longer, Koume." Kotake laughed.

"Then we should brainwash her again!" Koume crackled.

"I'd rather be dead than be a puppet for you two hags ever again!" Nabrooru snarled in anger. "I hope you both wrinkle away until you dry in the sun! And you can tell Ganondorf that I hope he chokes on someone's sword for all that he put us through!"

"Oh that's it!" Koume snarled as she and an equally angry Kotake readied a spell.

Nabrooru got up and bolted for the exit, but before I could do anything to help, the witches sent out a burst of magic towards the girl and I watched as their combined magic hit Nabooru and everything turned white as I heard her let out a scream.

When everything returned to normal, all that remained of Nabrooru was an orange light that vanished and let out a trail of sparkles in it's wake.

"Well be waiting for you, pink child!" Koume spoke as I turned in horror to face the witches. "Face us if you dare!"

"Unless you're too afraid of facing a similar fate!" Kotake laughed as the two vanished from the room.

The bars ahead of me moved away from the door to allow me access into the final chamber. Meanwhile, I was trying to comprehend what just happened to Nabrooru: did they transport her away, or did they really just-

"Zelda, wait!" I heard Shadow wheeze.

I went over to Shadow, who seemed to be slowly regaining his ability to breathe normally and his injuries had turned from pitch black to dark gray, but he still seemed unable to do much, other than try to grab something out of his mirror. "What is it?" I asked as I knelt beside him. His eyes were slowly regaining their natural look as the redness retreated back into the pupils and revealed the natural whiteness once more.

"After you meet the next sage," He began as he withdrew his hand from the mirror and held what looked like a green crystal "I'm going to be at the entrance of the temple." He held the crystal to his chest. "Come and find me."

"Sure." I nodded as I carefully put my hand on his shoulder for reassurance, before I got up and walked towards the door.

"And how is he going to get back?" Ivan demanded to me. "He's too injured to move!"

There was a sound of wind blowing, and I only turned in time to see a flash of green where Shadow was, before the flash vanished and him with it.

I recalled seeing that green flash before, but at that time I couldn't point a finger on it.

I turned back and continued on my way. I passed through the door and through a hallway, before coming into a very spacious room filled with platforms. Upon the room's walls appeared to be strange glowing symbols which looked like the Gerudo alphabet.

"Alright, here we go." I crawled my way up the largest platform and hoisted myself up, before walking to the center, where some sort of circular diagram had been created.

"This place reeks of ritual mumbo-jumbo." Ivan grumbled.

"Look at that stupid kid!" A voice belonging to one of the witches rang out with a laugh. "She came to offer herself as a sacrifice to the great Ganondorf!"

Two opposing platforms then had a set or runes light up on their surface. One red, the other blue.

"With my flame, I will burn her to the bone!" I turned in time to see Koume raise up out of the red runes. She spun on her broom mid air and in a blast of magic, her hair turned into actual fire.

"With my frost, I will freeze her to her soul!" I turned the other way and Kotake did the same as her twin, only this time her hair turned into ice.

I quickly recalled what Kaepora Gaebora told me to do against these witches as they each went to my platform and twirled around me. Was it my imagination, or did they grow twice my size?

"You brainwashed Nabrooru for almost seven years!" I yelled as I readied my sword. "I bet you did the same to Ganondorf!"

"We never did such a thing!" Koume crackled as she and her sister flew around the room. "He had the potential for greatness and we forced him to bring it out! He has proven to be far better than any king we have seen in our tribe and more ruthless than any of our girls!"

"The useless tart that birthed him would have held him back!" Kotake joined. "We encouraged him and taught him the dark arts, when the others weren't looking!"

"His hatred for your lot is as pure as it is his own!" Koume yelled as she threw a blast of magic at me. I ran away in time and watched as the floor became engulfed in a layer of what looked like lava. "We deserve to have your lands to thrive!"

"Our Sand Goddess never helped us!" Kotake then threw a blast of ice magic that I hurried to avoid and leapt onto another platform. This magic covered the floor in a layer of ice. "She turns a deaf ear on our pleas, and so we turn her backs on her. The only true deity who gives us strength is that of Demise! His hatred inspires us to claim what we desire!"

While I had no idea what the blue witch told me, I began to understand how to use their magic against them with the mirror shield. I waited until Koume readied her fire spell and once she sent a jet of fire at me, I rose the shield up and the jet bounced right off of it. I quickly aimed the jet at Kotake, who let out a yell when she was hit.

"Got one." I grinned.

I waited for another chance and sure enough Kotake tried to do the same thing to me, but I reflected a jet of ice magic at Koume.

"How is she doing that?!" Kotake yelled in frustration.

"It's that shield!" Koume snarled. "One of those idiots left it in the temple!"

"It must have been Nabrooru, the little whelp!" Kotake agreed.

The battle between me and the witches went on for awhile, but they eventually got smart and were able to trick me. After a few attacks from my part (some of which I was unable to use against them, because they weren't in view.) Koume began to ready a spell, but then I felt something cold crawl up one of my legs and she let out a laugh.

I turned around and stared in horror as my leg became incased in ice.

Kotake laughed. "Ha! This is just like when we encased that owl in ice seven years ago!"

"What owl?!" Ivan asked as I struggled to pull free.

"The one who kept helping the pink girl! He kept flying her to different locations!"

"We knew he was helping to thwart Ganondorf!" Koume laughed. "So we froze him before he could take the girl to the prince! Perhaps if we hadn't done that, you would have won this war, but we couldn't let that happen!"

I only stopped my struggle when I heard this. "Y-you did what?!"

"Oh please!" Kotake rolled her bug like eyes. "We could have froze a limb off or burned him alive- what we did was tame in comparison."

"It doesn't matter what we do to you, so long as you are out of Ganondorf's way." Koume added. "If anything, it would be fun to brainwash you, like we did to Nabrooru."

"Or that dragon!" Kotake also threw in. "He was a lot of fun to have on our side, until some girl killed him."

I felt everything stop when I realized what they were saying.

"You... you were the one's who-?"

" _Li...Link?"_

" _I'd rather be dead than be a puppet for you two hags ever again!"_

The voices of their victims ran in my head as the witches both joined in an holy high pitched laugh that was awful in my ears.

Finally my leg came free from the ice, but now I was mad.

I had no clue just how close I was to preventing all of this. I had no idea that these two were directly responsible for why I didn't make it in time. Not only did these two have a hand in all of that, but what they did to Volvagia and Nabrooru was unforgivable.

"You brainwashed and killed people!" I roared. "People who did nothing wrong to your tribe! You do this all for fun and you raised Ganondorf to be no better than you, if not worse!"

"And you think you and all your Hylian kin are better than us?!" Koume snapped. "How many have you killed to get to this point!"

"Then stop turning people into your slaves and face us!" I yelled. "Face me! You were already too cowardly to just kill me off as a child, and even now you still can't do it!"

"What the heck are you doing?!" Ivan hissed at me as the witches became mad.

"Fine, you little worm!" Koume snarled. "You want to see the true power of a Gerudo?! You asked for it! Ok, let's get serious now, Kotake!"

"Oh, ok, Koume!"

The twins began to fly around in a circle above me and slowly came together until they began merging together in their own magic. "Kotake and Koume's Double Dynamite Attack!"

In a blast of their combined magic, they became one woman who looked a lot younger than either them, was dressed more like the younger Gerudo, and even sported hair of fire and ice, along with two staffs in her hands.

"Wh-" I heard Ivan gapping. "Wh-what did they just-"

"Do you like this form, little fairy man?" The woman asked in a voice that was easier on the ears as she smirked with a wink. "We have seduced many weak minded opponents this way- even the king of Hyrule himself!"

I swore that I could hear a loud retching noise from Ivan, like he was going to vomit.

"This is the power of Twinrova." She told me as she floated to one of the platforms. "This is the power of the dark arts forbidden to your pathetic kind!" She swung a blue staff at me, and I quickly got my shield up as a blast of ice came right at me. My shield started glowing white and began making a weird 'whae-whae' sound.

I guessed that it meant that it needed to absorb more of the same magic. I waited until Twinrova sent another blast of ice magic at me and the sound my shied made sped up.

A third time later, my shield spewed out a gust of ice that knocked Twinrova out of the air and onto a platform. I was nearby and leapt onto it to let loose a string of attacks, though she let out a strange cry each time that I did.

"Pah! You think you can just use my magic right back at me?!" She snarled as she took to the air. "Don't get cocky, little girl!"

The second time around, she tried using her fire magic at me. Once she was about to swing her fire staff at me for what would seem to be the third time, she quickly switched staffs and I was forced to make a run for it.

"See! What did I tell you!"

Then why was she so stupid to use the fire magic at me after that mishap? Once again I knocked her down with her own fire magic and let her have it before she regained her senses and took to the air again.

Wait a minute.

" _I'm going to kill whoever built this temple!" He swore to me. "We went through so many traps, and now we-"_

 _There was a flash of green and suddenly we were back at the first room of the temple._

" _-have to go all the way- WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED?!" Ivan glanced around. "How in Farore's name did we just get back down here?!"_

 _That_ was where I saw that green light before! It was at the fire temple!

"I refuse to be beaten by a wheat haired, pale faced brat from Hyrule!" Twinrova snarled. "I will kill you in the most agonizing way possible and burn and freeze you simultaneously!"

"Not unless I beat you first!" I snarled as I readied the shield. "There are people who deserve justice for what you've done to them!"

Twinrova laughed. "People? You even regard the dragon and that traitor as people! That beast was just a pet to a boy who didn't know it's true potential, and Nabrooru was just a waste of time and space!" She then did something that made me worried: she raised both staffs.

It was either do or die: I held my shield up and prayed to the goddesses to give me help.

"Volvagia wasn't a pet to Link!" I yelled. "He never was! And Nabrooru cared more about your tribe and was a lot more daring than either you two combined could ever wish to be!"

"And why would you care?!" Twinrova snarled. "That brat was lazy, selfish, and you were forced to do his dirty work for him! Ha! What a joke!" She sent both spells at me.

I let out a swear and quickly held my shield up as I prepared for the worst.

What I did not expect was to have water crash into the shield and fall onto the ground at my feet.

"WHAT?!" Twinrova shrieked in disbelief as I slowly lowered my shield and found myself in a puddle of water.

"Pft-hahahahahaha!" Ivan let out a mighty high pitched laugh that almost rivaled the witches laughing. "Hahahahahaha!" I was concerned and was about to ask what he found so funny, until he struggled to say it through his laughing fit.

"Oh Goddesses! Oh Goddesses _thank you_! Thank you, thank you! Finally something that makes sense!"

"You dare laugh at the great Twinrova, little fairy?!" Twinrova snarled at my companion, who took deep breaths until he finally calmed down.

"Yeah, because you are an idiot!" He replied. "You actually thought mixing fire and ice was a good idea, and I'll admit that I was surprised that you didn't turn into a water witch, but it just shows how stupid you guys are, not to have expected that."

"Take that back!"

"Ok, but now here comes the best part- both of you know by know that we have a shield that reflects your magic back at you. I bet that whoever is dumb enough to try it again will lose Ganondorf's favor while the other one can claim superiority. Who knows- maybe the smart one is secretly his favorite."

I waited to see what would happen, since I had a feeling that Ivan had a plan up his sleeve.

"That's right!" Twinrova suddenly crackled. "After all, one of us has to get the hero!" Then she began raising the fire staff.

"What are you doing, you idiot?!" She suddenly snapped at herself. "Forcing you to attack her, so that I can be the best!" She added.

"Cut that out!" But it was too late and the shield absorbed the fire magic.

"You dolt! If that's how you want it, then fine!" The ice staff was raised and I casually dodged the attack. Meanwhile, Twinrova managed to argue with herself and it was pretty funny.

"I was the one who encouraged Ganondorf to set his sights on Hyrule!"

"No, I was the one who kept pushing him in his training!"

"No, you did that to Nabrooru and the other girls! You're the reason why we had a rebel on our hands!"

"I suggested tricking the king!"

"I froze the bird that would have gotten that brat to the prince!"

"You took all my perfumes and cosmetic potions!"

"How does that relate to any of this! You took my share of men to seduce during that war, two hundred years ago!"

"Because I was prettier than you, that's why!"

"Well I had the brains to start those battles almost seventeen years ago!"

"I was the one to suggest taking away that circular mirror from the old sages!"

"I kicked off the incident involving the Piccori to try to bring about the reincarnation of-"

By that time, my shield was charged and I aimed it at Twinrova and finally shut her up. Having had enough of this witch, I drew my sword and ran to the platform where she sat and was paralyzed by her own magic.

"I will fight for Link!" I yelled as I raised my sword and repeatedly slashed at the witch. "Because I never blamed him for any of this! If I could turn back time to prevent this, I would, but I would never hate Link! If I ever see him again, I'll let him know, because I'm tired of what all this hatred has done to this land!"

I then plunged it deep into their body and they let out a horrific scream.

Slowly their body rose into the air in an ungraceful heap and it became separated into red and blue magical smoke things that twirled back to the main platform. I moved to the main platform, just as they reformed back into Koume and Kotake.

"You want to have another round, grannies?" I demanded as I swung my blade out. "Because I still have it in me!"

"Shoot!" Koume shook her fists in the air. "This kid thinks she's fresh like that little punk we dealt with earlier! But this time will get serious, right Kotake?"

Then, to everyone's surprise, a light appeared above them as well as a ring over each head.

"Hey, Koume, what's that above your head?" Kotake asked as she glanced at the ring above her twin at the moment the two began to raise up into the air.

"I don't know, but you have one above your head too, Kotake!" Koume was just as confused.

There was a pause, before they realized what was happening.

"But I'm only 400 years old!" Koume shrieked as she flailed her arms out.

"And I'm only 380 years old!" Kotake did the same reaction as her sister.

"We're twins!" Don't lie about your age!" Koume snapped.

"You must have gone senile!"

"Who are you calling senile?! Is that how you treat your older sister?"

"We're twins! How can you be older?!"

Ivan and I could only watch as the two continuously squabbled in a symphony of unholy crackling noises. Finally, someone up above must of had enough, because the two were pulled towards the light and they ceased their fighting.

Only for them to let out one curse together before they vanished into the light.

" _We'll come back to haunt you!"_

Ivan and I just kept staring until the light finally vanished.

"W...what just happened?" I asked.

"I... have no clue." He replied. "Normally I'd ask why they went up instead of going... elsewhere... but honestly I just don't care anymore."

 **-somewhere in Hyrule's equivalent of Heaven (or whatever the reader believes in)-**

"Uh... Kotake?"

"Yes, Koume?"

"Aren't these people we've brainwashed or killed throughout the years?"

The two hags were surrounded by many upon many individuals whom they wronged throughout their 400 (or 380) year lifespan as far as their eyes could see.

"You continuously insulted my daughter for not looking enough like a Gerudo, you racist hags." An elderly Gerudo with her daughter by her side growled.

"Your son almost ruined my family's life!" The daughter snarled. "My poor daughter and my Talon suffered, as did our animals!" She cracked her fists.

"You burnt us to death!" One cried out.

"You froze our limbs off for fun!"

"You brainwashed me and the others!" Nabrooru only had a few minutes in heaven before she and Rauru had to go back to the temple of the sages, but she was more than happy to have her revenge.

"You prevented me from aiding the hero." Rauru glared.

"You two brainwashed me into a mindless beast!" A deep voice boomed out as a large shadow fell over the witches.

The two turned to see Volvagia flying overhead. He lowered himself to the ground, helped an elegant looking lady off his back and gently set her onto the ground in front of the witches.

"Thank you, Volvagia." The former queen of Hyrule thanked the dragon and gave him a curtsey.

"The pleasure is mine, Your Majesty." He bowed in return.

"As for you two." The queen snarled at the witches as she pulled a sword from her scabbard with her left hand. "Well, I think there's a chance that you already know why _I'm_ here. Morals be damned- I'm going to make you both suffer for what you did."

And so the former victims and vengeance seekers swarmed in and attacked the witches, much to their horrified protests.

It was a glorious and satisfying revenge for all of the dead. Not to mention hilarious.

"Ah, nothing says black comedy like seeing a group of people beating up old ladies." Din chuckled as she and her sisters sat on a couch that was levitating above the scene.

"Of course, we'll have to send them to where they belong, once those guys have their fun." Nayru took a handful of popcorn from a bucket and stuffed some of it in her mouth.

"See, we don't always have to be cosmic evils!" Farore grinned as she lowered her 3D glasses down a little. "We _know_ how to provide justice."

 **-Spirit Temple-**

"Ok, time to meet the next sage." I began as I headed to the familiar blue ring.

"I wonder what would have happened if Ganondorf hadn't been raised by those two." Ivan said thoughtfully. "Would it have made a difference?"

"Who knows. For one thing, I don't think we would have ever got to meet each other."

 **-Chamber of the Sages-**

I was not surprised to find out who the last sage was. Something deep down inside me had guessed from the start who it would be.

"Nabrooru." I greeted with a nod to the Gerudo woman on the orange medallion. She didn't seem confused or angry, but she appeared to be satisfied and was even giving me a smile.

"Hey kid." She greeted me. "I got to thank you for freeing me."

"But I didn't." I pointed out. "The witches-"

"I'm stubborn and I told myself I'd rather die than lose my mind ever again." She cut in. "That's all you really need to know."

"Anyway," She placed her hands on her hips. "Look at you!" She laughed. "The little kid became a competent swordswoman! And look at me! A Gerudo who was forced to serve Ganondorf turned out to be the Sage of Spirit! And now I get to fight him as one of the six sages!" She laughed again. "I'm going to pay him and his goons back for what they did to me!"

"Anyway kid- no- Zelda, the Hero of Time!" She corrected herself. "I can't keep the promise I made to you, but I promise to lend you my aid in any way I can. I owe you that!"

"It's too bad I didn't get to know you for just a little longer." I confessed as everything around me turned white.

" _You know, if I knew you'd become quite a beautiful woman, then maybe I should have kept my promise I made back then!"_

Those parting words confused me, but before I could try to ask her what she meant, another voice called out to me.

" _You have gathered us all at last."_ Rauru spoke out with pride. _"Finally, all of us, the six Sages, have been awakened! The time for the final showdown with the King of Evil has come!_

 _Before that though, you should meet the one who is waiting for you. Your final ally is to appear to you at the Temple of Time- it is time for the light to pierce through the darkness."_

 **-Outside the spirit temple-**

After I was transported back outside the temple, I recalled what Rauru told us. Who was waiting at the Temple, and what did he mean by the light to pierce through the darkness?

"Oh crud, I almost forgot!" I panicked and ran back towards the Spirit temple.

Resting against the shadowed entrance was Shadow, who looked a little better, if not tired out. His eyes returned to normal and there were only a few dark spots on his exposed skin and face, but he was still visibly shaking. If he had any intention of leaving, he was in luck since the sun was already setting.

"Shadow!" I quickly kneeled beside him. "Are you alright?"

"Did you get the hags?" He wheezed.

"Yes."

"Thank Nayru." He sighed in relief. "Now I can speed up the healing process." He lifted his left hand up and examined it.

"Hang on." I interrupted. "Shadow, I need to ask you something. That spell you used to get yourself out of the temple was very identical to the one that transported Ivan and I from the top of the Fire Temple to the very bottom."

"Ok, you got me." He held his hand up in surrender. "Yes, I was there to help you out."

"So that _was_ you!" Ivan gapped. "I freaking knew it!"

"And it was you who tried to pose as me in the Water Temple, correct?" I pressed.

"Yeah, but I was only doing it to make sure you couldn't completely give into your anger when it mattered, like at the ice cavern." Shadow explained with a nervous laugh. "The irony is that I'm in this jam because I was stupid enough to be a hypocrite!"

"Why then?" I asked as my eyes narrowed. "Shadow, if you aren't going to tell me these things, then why are you really helping me?"

"I told you that y'all can't trust me."

I groaned. "You know what, fine. I need to head back to the Temple of Time. I'm sure you can take care of yourself." I reached for the ocarina of time, when suddenly there was a flash of green.

Seconds later, I found myself at the entrance to the valley- more specifically, right outside the tent, where Epona was.

"What was that for?!" I snapped at Shadow, whose hand was shaking as he held the crystal in his hand. Luckily for him, he was hidden from the last of the light of day, but I cared less about it. "I need to get to the temple and end finish this quest!"

"You can't!" He seemed rather afraid of the idea of me going. "They already set a trap for you in the old castle town!"

"And?" Ivan prompted. "Why should we avoid the town when we need to go there. In fact, why in Din's name should we have any reason to believe you, with all your cryptic talk?"

"Because Ganondorf wants the fraction of the Triforce inside her!" Shadow snapped at Ivan.

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Ganondorf has the Triforce already."

"No, he-" Shadow looked around. "We aren't safe here. We got to get out of the valley."

I had to take his word. I quickly put my shield away and forced Shadow onto Epona, and quickly got on her.

"Heyah!" I kicked Epona and she galloped across the newly fixed bridge, over the narrow beam that went over a pond, and out of the valley.

"Ok, you have ten minutes to explain what you told me about the Triforce before I get to the Temple of Time!" I warned Shadow as he held onto me.

"Did you not hear me?!" Shadow asked in frustration. "I said-"

"Then explain it! No more secrets!"

"Ok fine, Princess!" He gave in. "According to legend, the Triforce can grant a wish and it doesn't care how good or evil the wisher is. However there is a condition- if he or she carries a balance of courage, wisdom, and power in their heart, the Triforce will remain intact upon touching it. If you don't have a balance, the Triforce will split into three and go to those who best embody those elements. Ganondorf valued power, so he only got the Triforce of Power. He needs the other two in order to get the complete Triforce. You have a fraction he wants."

"And how do you know that?" Ivan demanded.

"Because there should be a Triforce shaped mark on the back of her hand! You know about it, right?!"

I almost stopped Epona in shock when I heard this.

"Zelda carries inside her the Triforce of Courage." Shadow continued on. "She chooses to face danger, no matter how horrible it might be and in spite of any fears she has, so she was the perfect match! And considering what she had to go through before getting it, I think that's something to be proud of!"

Despite how desperate the situation was, a part of me felt honored to learn this. "And the other one?" I asked. "Who carries the Triforce of Wisdom?"

Before Shadow could answer, Ivan screamed "POES!"

I turned my head and sure enough, a huge number of ghosts were coming right at us!

"I TOLD YOU!" Shadow yelled.

"Come on Epona!" I kicked the rust colored mare to make her go faster. We rushed past the ranch and we were getting closer to the old castle town.

I gritted my teeth and glanced back. The poes were gaining on us!

"FOR LORD GANONDORF!" One of them yelled. "FOR THE DEPARTED POE SISTERS!"

"That just _had_ to come back to haunt us, didn't it?!" Ivan complained as he flew beside me.

We finally reached the broken drawbridge, but Epona came to an unexpected quick stop and reared back with a 'neigh.' Before I could do anything, both Shadow and I fell off the saddle and collapsed on the ground. Just as I looked up, my beloved companion raced away from us.

"EPONA, NO!" I pleaded as I forced myself up.

"She knows that this place is cursed!" Shadow wheezed. "You can't blame her!" He told me as I hurried to get him on his feet and put his arm over my shoulders. In the haste, he lost his cloak, but it didn't matter since the sky was turning a stormy dark color that reminded me of when I first met Ganondorf. With an army of poes coming at us, I had no choice but to run over a broken drawbridge with an injured ally in my grasp as fast as I could.

"Oh Goddesses." Shadow moaned.

"What?!" I asked as I hurried down the street.

"The trap wasn't supposed to be for you- it was for me."

I almost asked what he meant, but as I came into the square, I came to a stop.

On each side of the fountain, blocking my way to the temple, were several moblins, lizafos, and stalfos- all with weapons in hand and ready to take us out.

I cursed and glanced back to see that the poes were blocking the way we came and were slowly gaining on us. There was no way I could fend them off on my own and Shadow was in no condition to fight.

We were trapped.

"The holder of the Triforce of Wisdom," Shadow wheezed as the monsters slowly came towards us, while I drew the Master Sword out "and the one you are supposed to meet at the temple is the seventh sage and leader of the other six."

"So?!" I hissed as I tried to think of how to get out of this.

"It's me, Princess."

I heard an odd snapping sound and glanced over to see Shadow holding the mirror in his left hand.

"I _really_ didn't want to resort to this." He sighed as the circle of monsters was drawing closer around us. "It was fun having this personality and these abilities, but now it's time for me to quit hiding and face the light."

* * *

 **Outtakes**

 **1.**

 **-If he found out (dedicated to mysteriousguy898)-**

"What the-?" I glanced around, but there was nothing that could have hit me.

Unless...

I took out the lens of truth and saw a large disembodied hand about half my size bouncing up and down on the floor, but I could sense that it was looking at me.

"What is it?" Ivan asked.

Before I could do anything, he flew over to take a look.

Seconds later, he let out a very high pitched scream and backed into a wall.

"WHAT THE ****?! WHY?! _WHY?!_ HOW MANY ARE THERE?! WHAT THE **** IS WRONG WITH OUR WORLD?! GODDESSES, WILL I EVER BE FREE FROM THOSE ****ING ABOMINATIONS?!"

For the rest of the dungeon, my companion remained in a constant state of trauma and suspicion at every sound and movement. I regretted letting him see through the lens from that moment on.

 **2.**

 **-Wrong mirror room-**

"Hey wait a minute." I realized I found myself outside again in an area that seemed different from the rest of the temple. "This looks more like a battle arena! And what's with the rock in the center?"

"More importantly, what's with the mirror up there?" Ivan mentioned the object in question that was up on some sort of platform.

Before we could find out, a swarm of cuccoos suddenly flew into the area and began to dive bomb towards me.

"CUCK-A KOO-KA-KOO!" ( _"I TOLD YOU I'D GET MY REVENGE BACK IN CHAPTER 4!"_ ) One of them at the head cried out. "COCK-A CAH!" ("NOW PREPARE TO DIE, YOU SCUMMY WORM!")

Ivan and I screamed and we hightailed it back into the temple. Unfortunately, I never got to find out what the mirror was, because a section flock of angry birds knocked into the round object in their blind fury and it fell over with a mighty crash.

" _COCK-AH-COCK-A-CAH!" ("LONG LIVE THE CUCCO DYNASTY!")_

 **-sometime in another timeline many years later (+20 Rupees)-**

As they pondered on where to find the next mirror shard, Zelda and Zant shuddered at the exact same time.

"You felt that, right?" Zelda asked.

"The feeling that something happening now could have been changed for the worst, due to some stupid cosmic happenstance?" The Twili asked. "Unfortunately, I did."

* * *

I couldn't change Twinrova's death scene- it's too funny to get rid of, in favor of something more realistic- but I wanted to give a good reason as to WHY they'd go up above, instead of below.

And now for some odd reason I'm imagining Volvagia sounding like Discord from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

Honestly, I got to the point where, instead of going right to the Temple of Time with the prelude of light, I'd just ride Epona over there to feel more epic, in preparation for what was to come. That's what influenced the big change at the end of this chapter.

Late next month, we begin the first of the last three chapters of the story, starting with the epic return of... well, I think you know.


	15. His Princess, the hero

**And so the finale commences. But first, I shall respond to my reviewers:**

 **HeroAlexa249: I don't know what Nintendo was doing with the heaven gag. Maybe it was supposed to be a gag? I do recall that comic- I suppose community service does make good insurance when you are evil. (Xanuzamaki's take on the whole thing in his abridged series is equally funny.)**

 **But yeah, I wanted to have a good reason for them going to heaven, and the idea I came up with was perfect.**

 **Mysteriousguy898: you are welcome, good sir! I knew I had to address the mirror thing at some point when I got to the desert section! My writing in that chapter was... kind of an experimentation and I guess it backfired a little.**

 **Well, here we go.**

* * *

 **Chapter 15: His Princess, the hero**

I had no idea what Shadow was talking about. "What do you-"

"It was nice knowing you when I was like this, Princess." Shadow gave me a crooked grin as he held the mirror up. "Go ahead and knock yourself out."

He then was somehow able to shove me away from him, despite his condition, and I found myself hurling towards the monsters.

Already they lunged out at me, but I was able to hold my sword out and defend myself before obeying Shadow's command.

You would think I was in for a hard time, but I remembered how my foes fought and though they all were ganging up on me, they were also too close to each other.

The second the nearest set of moblins charged at me with their spears, I knelt down and slashed at their legs. Quickly I got up and took my shield out in time to block a lizafos' blade before swinging my sword around me at those who tried to approach.

 _ **-Meanwhile-**_

"I'll miss being this version of me." Shadow held the mirror up above him and glanced up with a slightly melancholic smile as dark tendrils escaped from the mirror and began to engulf him. "As much as I hate going back to being that pansy idiot again."

The darkness turned into varying shades of green and blue as soon as Shadow was completely consumed.

 **-Zelda's POV-**

I charged through the hordes and while I was defending several blows and attacks, I also dodged several attacks that ended up hurting my foes' allies. Grinning, I continued to try to make my way to the temple of time, but I still had a horde of monsters in the market between me and my destination.

Just as I made it to where the Mask Shop used to be, a wave of poes blocked my path. I swung my blade at them but they quickly vanished and reappeared elsewhere, before they tried to swing their lanterns at me.

I felt something cut into my back and I yelled as I turned and swung at whatever hit me. My attacker- a lizafos- jumped out of the way.

"You'd be better off not resisting, little Hylian!" A poe sneered at me. "We out number you!"

I gritted my teeth and readied my sword when all of a sudden there was a flash of yellow and a dying scream emitted from one of my would be assailants. It didn't stop there- several flashes of light hit a number of those who were about to gang up on me and many dashed away from it.

"KEESSSS! LIGHT!" A Lizafos hissed in agony. "LIGHT MAGIC! WHERE IS IT COMING FROM?!"

"That's right!" Shadow's voice triumphantly yelled out and not only sounded healthier and free of fatigue, but it sounded less deeper in tone and less fiercer than usual, though it was still jovial. "Pure, unfiltered light magic right to your face!"

More beams of light shot out at my enemies as I searched for the source of where I thought Shadow was. What I did see was someone on a platform above the old bombchu bowling alley- a figure in green who was drawing an arrow from a bow.

"Andman does it feel good to be using it again!"

He released another arrow and it sent forth a light that hit another opponent. At the same time, he put his bow away and took out a large sword as he leapt off the ledge and towards a soon to be very unfortunate moblin who was about to get impaired.

Wasting no time, I quickly composed myself and ran back into the fray. I continued to slash my way through the monsters but I was also witnessing my helper's attacks at the same time. He held his sword in both hands and he made quick work of many monsters. When he stabbed into one beast, he opted to rip the sword through the monster, instead of pulling it out, so as to attack the monster on one side or the other- sometimes with the monster still attached to the blade.

At one point, he threw his hand out and at first I thought he was casting Din's fire, but this spell turned into an orb of fire that spiraled out and blasted into a set of monsters in front of him while he quickly took care of a batch. Seconds later, he casted a familiar green spell that transported him to another location where he took it out on a new set.

I was positive that this _was_ Shadow, but something seemed different- it wasn't just appearances, but it was in the way he was fighting. There was something more refined about his technique and each spell he used didn't seem to require the use of a crystal.

He held his handle of his sword up near his head and the blade glowed with a blue pulsating light before it turned orange. He then spun his blade out right into a bunch of stalfos in a perfect, yet powerful great spin attack.

Gradually we fought our way through the monsters around the old fountain and we got closer and closer to each other until I could sense that he was standing back to back with me with his sword out while I did the same thing.

"Shadow, what did you do and why didn't you do it _beforehand_?!" I hissed as I eyed my batch of enemies.

"Well first off Princess, my real name isn't Shadow." He replied.

I sensed that he was casting another altered version of Din's Fire and was proven correct as the orb of flame went right through my ring of enemies and scattered them away. Having been granted enough time to see what had happened to Shadow I quickly turned around, grabbed his shoulder, and forced him to face me.

I was in for a _really_ big surprise.

While Shadow's clothes were now a forest green and white with a noticeable gold colored trim, instead of black and gray and ragged, and his gauntlets were gold plated, I was not expecting his physical appearance to change as well. His hair was now blonde, his skin was slightly tanned and devoid of burn marks, and his eyes were blue instead of red. While it looked as if his other features were still the same, I realized that he looked _really_ familiar and in one second my mind recalled a small boy with a dragon from a day that I was very fond of remembering.

I had only seen the boy for at least one day and the only other time was when he was escaping from the castle on horseback. I _never_ made the connection between him and Shadow because the two were drastically different in both age and appearance. Now my mind was putting everything together- everything suddenly made sense.

When I said Shadow's real name it was with this understanding, but it was mixed with the shock that was still in effect.

" _Link?"_

My assistant gave me a small smile. "Sorry I had to deceive you." He apologized. "Now let's get the heck out of here!"

He quickly tossed a bomb that was already alight from his pouch and grabbed my hand before I found myself engulfed in green light and inside the Temple of Time.

Even though he let go of my hand and finally put the biggoron's sword away, we were still starring at each other. I don't know what was going through his head, but I didn't know what to think: a part of me was angry that he kept his identity a secret from me, another was relieved to know that he was alive, and a less innocent but more observant part of me couldn't help but realize that the prince I had a crush on ended up becoming handsome as a grown-up.

The Link I saw as a child was as innocent as I had been, with eyes full of hope and adventure. The mischievous, secretive side of him had been amplified in Shadow's persona, but it was now gone; Link may have grown to be handsome as an adult, and his features were now mature, but I could see that there was a weariness in his eyes, as if he had to hide more than who he really was. Even his body showed signs of damage like mine- there was a thin white scar on his neck that was barely hidden by the collar of his shirt.

"Eh, I guess I was right after all." Ivan suddenly butted in and I realized that he was still with me.

...Wait, _what?_

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'I WAS RIGHT AFTER ALL?!'" I yelled at him. Then I regretted my action because I realized that I still had an injury on my back and winced when I felt it.

"Wait, let me take care of that for a minute." Link walked around me as I dropped my shield to the ground and used some sort of spell to heal the wound.

"I wasn't sure, but I considered that Shadow and the prince were the same." Ivan admitted. "I added a few things up and I thought that it would have made sense but-"

"Then why didn't you tell me sooner?!" I almost moved away from Link when I yelled at Ivan and the former had to follow me as he continued the process.

"Because I didn't want to get your hopes up! Plus I thought there was something familiar about the form he chose, and I was going to point it out before I was cut off!"

I groaned. "Thanks a lot Ivan. You _really_ know how I would feel about you keeping a secret from me."

"Actually I would have preferred it if neither of you figured it out." Link admitted. "I was already taking several risks." He finished the procedure and my back didn't have that awful stinging sensation anymore. I was free to put the Master Sword back in it's sheath and I did so when I realized something that now made sense to me.

"Oh-" I clasped a hand to my mouth in horror. "Oh Nayru, _now_ I know why you were so edgy back at Death Mountain when you were Shadow! You were even hinting at who you were at the ice cavern and- oh- Link I am _so_ sorry! Why didn't you just tell me?!"

Link took a deep sigh. "I know- I forgive you." He was pained by the memory. "There was nothing I could do about Volvagia to save him. I had to let you defeat him at that time; if I did anything too drastic, Ganondorf would have caught wind of my identity, but he must have figured it out by now."

He took Shadow's mirror out. "If anything, I should be the one apologizing to you. I never stopped regretting when I made you pull the Master Sword out and robbed you of seven years of your life." He looked at the mirror as he began to recall what happened to him in a distant voice. "I ran from Ganondorf and I ran even faster when I realized I carried the Triforce of Wisdom inside me, but I swore to atone for my actions. I wanted to help but I had no idea what to do until I recalled tales of the Dark Mirror from childhood that my mother used to tell me. It's a mirror that some claim can transport you between different dimensions but others said that it could have the power to bring out the worst in someone, or turn them into an altered version of themselves. Realizing that there was possibly a way to trick Ganondorf, I made a rash decision and tricked Impa into leading me to the mirror."

 **-Approximately a week before Zelda awoke from her slumber-**

 _The young man approached the mirror that rested on it's pedestal. He was thankful that Impa wasn't there to stop him- she would destroy the object if she didn't have a heart attack first. It took him a long time to find this mirror and though he was nervous, he reached a hand out and touched the edge of the object._

" _You who touch the mirror," An almost ethereal, whispery voice echoed throughout the room. "I sense a great tragedy in your memories as well as a strong resolve. I sense all that is good inside you- all could be tarnished if you resort to using the mirror."_

" _I have to use this object." Link swore. "I need to hide myself from Ganondorf in order to help the Hero of Time, even if it means turning myself into a monster!"_

" _If you do then all that is good inside you will be dulled down and all that is bad will be sharpened unless you possess the strength to overcome your vices. You will have much power at your command, but your body will be trapped inside the mirror, and though your mind will be tied to the magic inside, you will be denied your true form until you chose to pull your body back out._

 _But know that the worst consequence is this, should you be able to control your darkness: never again will you walk amongst others in the light of day. If the sun touches your skin, it will be as if you are burning in agony until you turn to dust- only the safety of night and shadows will spare you."_

" _FINE!" Link yelled as he held up the mirror and saw his determined face staring back at him on its surface. "Turn me into a creature of darkness! Rob me of my emotions, re-write my personality, make me more prone to violence, make it so that the sun will burn me to death, but I'll be_ damned _if I let you dissuade me from protecting Hyrule! Give me the power to atone for the mistakes I've made and aid the Hero of Time! I don't care if I lose myself, but let me change the tides of fate to keep evil from invading the world!"_

" _If that is what you seek then that is what you shall have," The voice decreed as the mirror's surface turned black "but know that your actions will be from your_ own _choices."_

 _Dark tendrils shot out of the mirror and wrapped themselves around the exiled prince of Hyrule. Link himself made no effort to struggle and welcomed the darkness as if it were like breathing air._

" _LINK!" He heard Impa scream for him, but it was too late as the darkness had completely consumed his form._

 **-Zelda's POV-**

"You already know how well that worked out for me. I was prone to reacting a little differently to certain things and I was a bit rash with some of my decisions, but not everything changed so I think my will was too strong to be taken completely over by the darkness. The only thing I didn't like was the burning in the sunlight, but it was something I was able to handle."

"That's not what it looked like earlier at the temple, buddy." Ivan butted in.

"... _Most of the time_." Link flatly corrected himself.

"So are you going to be ok then?" I was a little worried. "I mean-"

"It feels like my mind has calmed down, but I can still feel the urges I had as Shadow." Link admitted as he put away the mirror. "But now that you found all the sages, there's a certain matter we need to discuss."

"The plan is that the sages will open the door to the sacred realm and try to lure Ganondorf inside it." He began. "Then I'm supposed to seal the door and trap him inside, away from Hyrule. Of course, I'd rather do that as a last resort, seeing as we need to get the Triforce of Power out of him and..." He closed his eyes and rested his forehead in the palm of his hand, "I can feel myself screaming for blood on the inside- you have no idea how hard it is to fight off the urge to kill when your darker side is in control. Even if Shadow isn't dominant right now, I want Ganondorf to pay for all he has done; I'm honestly scared that I'm going to mess everything up when I'm like this."

He dropped his hand and looked me in the eye. "I'm going to need your help one last time and try to defeat him. I want to bestow upon you some of my power- I'm genuinely afraid that I'm going to do something rash and I can't trust myself to-"

"No, I understand." I held my hand out. "We've gone too far to mess things up."

"Plus I'm all for killing Ganondorf." Ivan added. "No offense, but I'm questioning the whole 'sealing away' plan."

Link weakly laughed as he held his hands over mine. A ring of golden light surrounded him and an equally golden orb formed between his hands, which grew in brightness until it bursted to reveal an arrow with it's sharp end encased in crystal.

"This sacred light arrow can be used to stun Ganondorf." He explained as the object hovered over my hand, while his retreated to his sides. "It should turn the other arrows into light arrows- and before you ask Ivan, the crystal is just an illusion to show off the arrow's power." He added.

"Oh? Uh- thanks." Ivan sounded as if he was indeed wondering about that.

As I put the arrow of light away, the ground started to rumble underneath us. "What the-?" I glanced around as the rumbling became audible and loud, and the temple began to shake.

Link's eyes widened in fear as he glanced to the ceiling, before they narrowed in anger. "Son of a-!"

Then, before our eyes, a large crystal encased itself around Link.

"Link?!" I yelled as I hurried towards him, but my hands hit the hard surface of the crystal as it solidified and let out a ringing sound. Link was as horrified as I was and I could see that he was trying to tell me something, but the crystal muted his words.

"I commend you for avoiding my pursuit for these seven long years, boy." A voice that I feared rang out in the temple. "Although I wanted to get rid of the girl I knew that she would be the key to bringing you out. Like the fool you are, you couldn't hide forever and revealed yourself to me at last!"

Link had heard those words and I could see very strong emotions in his eyes before his face twisted into sheer anger. For one moment he was like Shadow again as he let out a string of what I was pretty sure were curse words and banged his fist against the crystal prison.

"My only mistake was I underestimated the power of this girl."

The crystal suddenly rose up into the air and Link and I only had moments to stare at each other, before his prison slipped away from my hands. All the while, Link was desperately thrashing about his prison and tried to escape, but it did him no good.

"No... it was not this child's power I misjudged. It was the power of the Triforce of Courage! But when I finally obtain that, as well as the Triforce of Wisdom, I can finally rule the world as my own!"

"Then why don't you come and take it!" I yelled as I watched the crystal rise towards the ceiling. "Quit treating me like I'm nothing to you and fight me, you coward!"

Ganondorf's voice let out an amused chuckle. "If you want to save your precious prince, then come to my castle!"

The crystal- and Link- faded away, followed with the hateful laughter that haunted me in my nightmares.

I clenched my fists in anger. "If that's how you want it, fine!" I swore. "You will regret this night Ganondorf! I promise that I'll show you never to underestimate what I'm capable of! For all that you've caused, I'll pay back in due!"

I gave Ivan a determined look. "Let's finish this Ivan- for Link and for Hyrule."

"Are you sure, Zelda?" He asked me in concern. "You had to go through the Spirit Temple today and you hadn't had a chance to rest since then."

I shook my head. "I don't care- there's no telling if or when he'll extract the Triforce of Wisdom out of Link! Time is too precious and it's no longer our ally!"

I hurried out of the Temple of Time and to where I was sure that I knew where Ganondorf's Castle was. I thought I saw it somewhere beyond the ruins of the market, and so I hurried through the abandoned town (now devoid of monsters and re-deads) and headed down a once familiar stone pathway between the hills.

To my dismay, I was correct.

Where a once beautiful castle nestled in the hills and fields of green had been was now a barren wasteland devoid of life. The mighty architecture was replaced by an ominous grayish black tower that almost looked like a fortress and it was placed over a huge void in the ground, where something similar to lava and yet even more sinister was churning below. The sky was an ugly mix of yellows, browns, and black, and a ring of dark clouds surrounded the top of the tower.

A part of me wanted to mourn what had happened to Link's home, while the other felt scared but determined to keep going.

"If this is what Ganondorf did to the castle... there's no telling what he'll do to the rest of the world." Ivan whispered.

I walked towards the edge of the gapping hole and looked at the castle- there was nothing to lead me across the void, as if Ganondorf wanted to mock me.

" _Zelda... can you hear me? It is me, Rauru."_

I glanced around. "Yes, I hear you, Rauru!" I was relieved. "I'm sure you know what has happened!"

" _We will not let you do this alone."_ He promised. _"We six will gather our power to create a bridge to this castle of evil. I must caution you that the castle's keep known as Ganondorf's Tower is protected by six evil barriers. Bring down the six barriers and we shall further aid you! Save the rightful king! Save Prince Link!"_

A rain of rainbow sparkles appeared from the sky and Ivan and I watched in amazement as a beautiful bridge formed between where I stood and the entrance of the castle. Each color was like that of the six medallions, and I could feel as if the sages were truly with me- Rauru, Saria, Darunia, Ruto, Impa and Nabrooru were not going to let me do this alone.

"Thank you everyone." I smiled up into the sky. "I promise your sacrifices will not be in vain." I lowered my gaze to the top of the tower. "I'm coming for you Link." I promised. "Just hang on a little longer."

I glanced at Ivan. "Well this is it- no turning back. I've appreciated that you've stuck through this adventure with me ever since we left the forest."

"Zelda, I'm glad that the Great Deku Tree made you my partner." Ivan replied. "I got to watch out for you, even if I didn't always like what we endured, and there is no way I'm backing out now. No matter what happens, spending time with you was the best time of my life thus far and I'll never regret any of it. Now let's go and kick Ganondorf's sorry butt to here and back until he can't feel anything for a week!"

I grinned and raced across the bridge towards the final stage of my journey. "Yeah let's kick his butt!" I agreed as I felt the child inside me that had disappeared come back in all her giddy glee.

 **-Ganondorf's Castle-**

Of course, it almost evaporated when I was greeted by a set of beamos in the first hallway, and I had to make a run for it before I could enter the main hall.

Ivan and I stared at the huge column in the center of the room- a strange energy was coursing around it and six streams of lights were anchored onto it from various points by familiar looking medallions.

"Well, I guess we need to go in each room and break down those barriers." I glanced to the first door with a familiar green symbol.

I found myself going through what seemed to be a recreation of the Forest Temple, but not quite. It didn't have fans in the temple, for one thing (man, I honestly forgot how fun and nerve wracking those large fans were!) As soon as completed the puzzle of that chamber, I moved to the next one to find a orb hanging mid air within green colored magic over some sort of alter.

"It looks like an egg yoke." Ivan snickered.

"Yeah it kind of does." I agreed as I tried to think of what to do next. "I wonder if I need to use the light arrow, since this could be dark magic."

I took the light arrow out and touched it to my other arrows. As soon as it made contact, the crystal flashed a golden glow and the other arrows turned yellow.

"Oh, ok." I put the original light arrow away and got my bow out. I drew one of the arrows, which shone with a light that let out a pleasant sound, and I released it into the orb.

The orb exploded in a shower of sparks and the green magic vanished. Everything turned green for one moment, before I saw Saria appear where the orb used to be.

"Saria?"

"This barrier is dispelled." She told me with a smile. "You better hurry up, Zel!"

She threw her hands into the air and turned into a shining green light. Before I knew it, everything turned white and I found myself outside the Forest chambers where the main hall was.

Above us, the connection between the Forest Chamber and the main column (or tower) vanished.

 **-Link's POV-**

I didn't know what was worse- the fact that I was trapped inside a crystal suspended up next to an organ emitting loud music or that I can still feel a bit of Shadow in me. The traces of Shadow that were still in me was screaming for murder, while the part that was now wholly me was trying to remain calm. Even after setting my anger out upon my prison, I could still feel an overwhelming desire to either attack more monsters or use the mirror again.

It was taking me everything not to tear my own flesh with my nails; I wondered if I was already suffering from some sort of severe withdrawal. That or I was just incredibly angry at the man who took so many lives, including that of my own mother.

The music ceased for a moment and a voice that I had grown to despise with every fiber of my being spoke out.

"You were surprisingly difficult to track down at first, boy, until I realized that the dark creature that took your form was rather helpful to the girl. After consultation with Twinrova, we figured how to get you to reveal yourself at last."

"Yeah, I kind of figured that!" I snapped back. "I almost got burnt to death, thanks to them!"

"I'm afraid that was entirely your fault, for you assumed that the darkness could be your ally; in the end, the darkness almost consumed you entirely. It clouded your judgement and you allowed yourself to not only be ruled by infatuation with the girl, but also by revenge." I could sense a smirk in his tone. "How unfortunate that your mother claimed that she raised you to be above it before I severed her head from her neck. Her own son gave into the temptations of power and it backfired on him."

 _I'm going to rip YOUR head off your neck the second I get out of this crystal and jam your head into a like-like's mouth, you spineless monster!_ A dark voice inside my mind was screaming out, but I was struggling to fight it back. I had only _just_ quit being Shadow and he _still_ wanted to be dominant.

"Tell me, oh throne-less prince," Ganondorf ask. "Why would you bother coming back to your old kingdom, knowing that it's now mine? Why would you try to help the very girl who should be angry at you for her lost childhood? Why would you try to hide yourself in a cloak of shadows and risk carrying the Triforce of Wisdom inside you in these lands, knowing that I could easily find you?"

As he asked me these questions, I was struggling to fight with my urges to lash out at him. I needed to stay whole in order to not let him bring me down like this, as well as for Zelda's sake when she would come. This was why I couldn't trust myself to be entirely useful at this point.

Thank Nayru that Shadow was easily controllable when it came to Zelda; I was more selfish when I was him and at least she was one of the few things we could still have in common.

"Because this kingdom is not just my kingdom." I bitterly retorted. "This is the kingdom of many races and tribes. Though these lands are my birthright and I was supposed to be the next in line, it belongs to everyone. I can't abandon my people when they need me- especially when they have fought and sacrificed to keep their home."

-Z **elda's POV-**

"Stupid ice block puzzle." I grumbled as I released an arrow into the orb surrounded by blue magic.

Just as before, the orb vanished and was replaced by Ruto, who hovered in it's place.

"I got this!" She told me. "Now let's finish this and get payback for what Ganondorf did to my tribe!"

"I will!" I grinned.

 **-Link's POV-**

"Yet you abandoned your people seven years ago." My enemy pointed out. "Such an act is one of cowardice."

"You are calling a child who didn't know any better a coward!" I snarled. "What could I have done differently?!"

"If you were truly wise then you wouldn't have let your companion open the doors to the Triforce. Surely you must have seen that coming."

 **-Zelda's POV-**

"Stupid like-like!" I snarled as I vanquished the nasty beast in the Shadow chambers. "You won't be having my shield or my clothes today!"

Much later on, I found a new set of gauntlets in a big chest, but this pair was almost identical to Link's golden pair. I almost wondered if he left them for me but then I reconsidered it.

"I wonder what these will do."

Five minutes later, I destroyed an orb trapped in purple magic and was greeted by Impa.

"I know what happened to Link now." I told her. "I wish he had been honest with me, but I appreciate the sacrifices he made for us."

"I understand why he did it and yet I will never stop worrying for his well being." Impa replied. "Please save him before something awful happens!"

 **-Link's POV-**

"And do you trust this girl to come to your aid now? Even after learning all that you have done?"

 **-Zelda's POV-**

"Hmm." I glanced at the large granite like pillar in the fire chambers, before glancing to my new gauntlets. "I wonder..."

I reached down to grab onto the pillar. With almost little effort, I was able to lift the thing over my head and in my panic, I quickly tossed the thing behind me and into the lava between two platforms.

"That-" I panted "-was awesome. Awesome, but scary!"

"Y-yeah." Ivan shuddered. "That was."

"I bet I could pick up a whole house or even a cow with these!" I grinned at the thought. "That's going to be so cool!"

Of course, I would have to save that for later. After some time had passed, I destroyed another orb that was trapped in red magic and Darunia took it's place.

"You got this!" He gave me a big grin and a thumbs up. "Hurry up, Brother!"

"I will!" I grinned and gave him a thumbs up in return.

 **-Link's POV-**

"I regret all the wrong that I have done to her, but I would have more faith in her defeating you than in saving me. She is among the many who live in this land and you also took away people that she has held dear to her. For the sake of preventing you from having the Triforce, she has been forced to grow up all to soon, both literally and figuratively. She has had to face horrors that would make grown men run away in terror. She has faced many traps, many fears, and has even faced the stuff of nightmares countless times. She has been forced to kill one of my best friends and I had forced her to face her potential darkness."

 **-Zelda's POV-**

"Round five, here we go!" I said as I destroyed yet another orb after facing another set of chambers.

Nabrooru appeared this time. "I got this one kid! Go and gave Ganondorf my regards!"

"Uh, quick question!" I began. "What were you going to promise me all those years ago?"

Nabrooru giggled. "Oh kid, you are precious; let's save that for later when this is all over."

 **-Link's POV-**

"Do you know what a hero really is Ganondorf?" I asked. "A hero isn't someone you look up to just because they're the strongest or the most popular. A hero is someone who is willing to make sacrifices and face the darkness, even if they are afraid of it. A hero is someone who works for the good of the world and tries to make a difference- the one who is supposed to hold the title of the Juror of Courage and is favored by Farore is capable of such feats. Yeah, you can say that they are too nice or they should resort to the easy way of doing things- yes, the hero shouldn't kill the monsters, or perhaps they should because it's the quick way to do it. But sometimes you have to have courage to do what is necessary and sometimes you need to decide whether or not killing something can turn you into a monster or if you can still keep your humanity."

"You make little sense boy." Ganondorf sneered.

 **-Zelda's POV-**

"I didn't like those traps." I muttered as I found myself in the usual chamber- only the orb wasn't there.

"Uh... did I miss something?" I wondered. I stared at the wall and tried to think, though a strange sound, like rushing wind, was increasing in pitch.

"RUN!" Ivan practically barked out the word.

I suddenly found myself stumbling through the wall and into what was apparently the real chamber.

" _Even here_!" My traumatized companion cried out. "Those Nayru forsaken hands are _everywhere_! I should have known Ganondorf was behind them!"

I would have to make it up to my companion somehow. I went ahead to destroy the final barrier and was greeted by Rauru.

"The time is now at hand!" He told me. "Hurry!"

 **-Link's POV-**

"Because you don't understand!" I yelled. "Mindless cruelty and murder, just for the fun of it, doesn't make one courageous! Those who choose to resort to killing to protect others- even while they don't want to or are afraid of turning into monsters because of it- those people will at least be always be better than those like you! They aren't cowards- they still keep their humanity and that is what's important! Not everyone can be able to rely on peaceful methods, but I believe that Zelda will win because she knows what's at stake and is willing to throw down whatever she has left to face you and still stay strong! Maybe I had a hand in taking away her innocence and making her resort to murder, but I know that she won't fall into the darkness because she is stronger than that!"

A silence fell as I struggled to catch my breath.

"And that's why she's _my_ Princess." I quietly muttered to myself without meaning to.

"That was a very amusing speech, but we shall see if you are right, boy." Ganondorf finally replied. "You may have hope in your champion, but I have known how to use my powers for far longer than she has known hers. I can't guarantee that your misguided beliefs will win out."

 **-Zelda's POV-**

With the final barrier dispelled, the magic around the tower suddenly charged and the flow sped up until it sent out a faint purple light and it vanished altogether.

"Well, here we go." I proceeded my way to the tower and eventually across the bridge. "Let's save Link and defeat Ganondorf."

"Yeah, we're coming for you!" Ivan bursted out. "You'll regret messing with us!"

We went into the tower and into a red carpeted room; the torches were alit, there were sections that were barred off by a set of metal bars, and I could hear something faint in the distance.

"You hear that, right?" I asked as I closed my eyes and tried to focus; it was too hard to make out where I was.

"Yeah, I can hear it." Ivan nodded. "Let's keep going and find out."

So I went up a flight of stairs and was forced to fight off two lizafos, who were easily dispatched.

"Ok, can you hear it now?" I asked when I was done. "It kind of sounds like... music."

"I can hear it." Ivan noted. "It sounds... kind of ominous, doesn't it? Actually, why would there be music playing now of all times?"

"I guess we will find out." I decided and made my way to the next room, where I found another flight of stairs.

At the top was a pair of stalfos that I was able to finish off.

"I've never heard that instrument before." I muttered to myself as the music was getting louder. I couldn't identify the song or the instrument, which was bothering me, but it was as if the song was taunting me. It was as if it was trying to scare me away- like the closer I was getting to it, the more I was being reminded of who I had to face.

I never forgot the night I faced him and he left me feeling weak and helpless; I never could forget the horror he committed against everyone.

I forced myself to keep going up another flight of stairs and a set of Iron Knuckles greeted me. By then I was feeling a little exhausted from the stair cases and fighting; Having to deal with two Iron Knuckles was not only twice as dangerous as facing just one, but I ended up spending too much time on them.

I ended the battle with a need to catch my breath before I could dare attempt another staircase. To my dismay I was correct about _another_ staircase behind the door, but I forced myself to press on.

As I walked up the staircase, I felt my a pain inside my body and my legs gave out without any warning. I managed to prop myself with my hands before I hit the ground but it did little to help the fatigue that got to my body or the sensations I was experiencing.

Everything inside me felt sore, tired, or stiff. If this had been any other day I would have wanted more than anything to just rest the whole day away- that's how bad I was feeling. My exhaustion had built up to this very point and I felt like I could barely do much.

"Zelda?!" Ivan flew beside me.

I forced myself to sit against a wall as I clutched my abdomen and felt complete exhaustion overwhelm me. "I need a potion." I managed to groan as I struggled to open my pouch and pull out a blue potion that I had acquired. It wasn't pleasant, but I knew it would give me back my strength for a little longer.

"You should go back to the temple and rest in the past." Ivan told me. "You already did more than you should today- in fact, I bet Ganondorf wants this."

"I can't," I finished off the potion and grimaced at the taste. "I just can't!" I was feeling really emotional in that moment. My body was exhausted as well as feeling like it was going to fail on me and I wanted so badly to sleep. "I have to-" I wheezed and collided my head against the wall "-I cant!"

Ivan stayed with me as I tried to compose myself. The music echoed from up above and did little to help me, other than threaten my eyelids to drop and render me into a state of sleep.

"When this is all over you'll take a long nap under a tree while its sunny outside." Ivan told me reassuringly. "And then we'll go around Hyrule and do nothing but be lazy. If anyone want's your help, you'll refuse to do it and we'll go to Lake Hylia where we can slack off and go fishing at the fishing hole like we did that one time awhile back."

I gave Ivan a weak smile. "Thanks."

I pushed myself up off the ground and continued on. All the while, the ominous music increased until I opened the boss door and found myself in a huge spacious room with walls lined with stained glass windows and there was some sort of pillar with bars that rose from the center to the ceiling.

"It's coming from up above us." Ivan noted. "He knows we're here."

My heart was pounding at the thought. I had come so far, but could I really defeat him?

I had to- everyone was counting on me.

I grimaced as I made my way around the pillar to see another door. "One more set of stairs and then that's it- I hope."

The last flight of stairs bore a red carpet over them as well as more stained glass windows on the walls. I forced my feet to keep going up the very long staircase until I came to the top where the final door was waiting.

The music was louder than ever and I could feel my insides churning.

I stared at the door for a moment. "This is it," I muttered to myself, "No turning back now." I gulped and made my way to the door- everything I had worked towards was just beyond it.

The door opened up and I walked through it with Ivan at my side; the music was now at it's loudest and it was filling me up with dread, as well as determination.

At first I could barely make anything out because the room was filled with some sort of orange haze and the floor was lined with more red carpeting, but then it dulled down to reveal that it was not only entirely lined with more stained glass windows, but there was some sort of contraption on the other side of the room that was surrounded by statues of winged creatures. The contraption was made out of a set of pipes and had some sort of alter where a figure in a dark red cape was controlling it. I realized that this was where the music was coming from, but my eyes were quickly drawn to what was in front of the mechanism.

High above the caped man was Link inside his crystal prison.

"Link?!" I gasped and raced across the room. When I was at the base of the steps that lead to the organ I suddenly felt a warm sensation on the back of my right hand. I held it up and watched as the symbol of the Triforce appeared upon it.

However, there was a noticeable difference- the right triangle was brighter than the left and top triangles.

I gasped again as I suddenly felt a strange sensation course through me- all my fatigue and weariness vanished as if I had just awoken from a long nap.

"What the-?" I glanced around my body. What just happened to me?

The music came to an eerie stop and the voice of the composer- Ganondorf- rang out in both wonder and desire.

"The Triforce parts are resonating... They are combining into one again."

I glanced up at Ganondorf, before I glanced at Link- he was looking at the back of his left hand and was listening to Ganondorf.

"The two Triforce parts that I could not capture on that day seven years ago... I didn't expect that they would be hidden within you two!" He snarled. "The one child who was suspicious of me and ran off like a coward before masquerading within darkness itself... and the child who thought she could face me and was locked away for seven years before running around Hyrule to undo all of my victories... it almost seems fitting."

He then let out a low chuckle. "And now all the Triforce parts have gathered here!" He threw his cape out before turing to face me.

Seven years of power had corrupted Ganondorf's appearance- his hair was longer and his eyebrows seemed to merge with his mane, while his skin looked more green than brown. He looked less like a proud Gerudo and more like a monster, and if his appearance alone didn't convince me then it was the greed and anger in his eyes that did so.

"These toys are too much for you!" His voice boomed out as he raised his fist up and out to reveal a mark identical to my own, only the top triangle was more dominant than the other two. "I command you to return them to me!"

He then let out a deep battle cry as he threw his arms out and a purple vortex suddenly blew out from him and went towards me. I tried to fight it off, but it felt like I was being anchored in place while it was pushing against me.

"Zelda?!" I turned to see that Ivan was trying to fight against the current, but it was pulling him away from me. "ZELDAAAAA!" He screamed as he was then blown back away.

"IVAN!" I screamed, but it was too late and Ivan vanished before he could hit the wall behind me.

Horrified, I turned around and Ganondorf threw his arms out to dispel the purple magic. He let out an amused laugh as he raised into the air and the organ- and Link- vanished.

"What did you do to Ivan?!" I yelled.

"I'm afraid you won't be receiving any help this time, girl." Ganondorf sneered at me. "I shall rip your Triforce out from your dead body before I can do the same to the boy!" He declared as he raised a glowing fist into the air before slamming it down into the now carpet-less ground. I felt a tremor under my feet and ran off to the side and when I turned around I saw a section of the ground was falling into the room below us. Ganondorf flew over the center of the room, which I quickly identified as the pillar from below. There was only a good sized gap between the pillar and the ring around the room, which was going to give me trouble.

I realized now that I was entirely alone this time- Ivan was no longer there to support me. I was alone with my most hated and feared enemy.

"This takes me back." Ganondorf recalled in amusement. "I recall a little rain drenched rat who tried to take her sword out at me." He raised his hand in the air and a strange crackling sound issued out as it looked like lighting was gathering into is fist. "Now let's see if she can still try to dodge this!"

My mind was panicking, but I recalled something: _"If the Master Sword repels evil, maybe it could repel magic!"_ Ivan once realized back in the Forest Temple, when I faced a phantom of Ganondorf.

I took out my Master Sword and readied it as the magic gathered in Ganondorf's fist, before he sent it right at me.

"Hyah!" I swung it back.

He let out an amused noise and swung it back at me, with the speed picking up a little.

Back, forth, back, forth, and so on until finally he was delayed in his reaction and was consumed by his own magic. He let out a pained gasp and was engulfed with an aura of his magic as I tried to think on what I had to do next as he was still hovering in mid air. Link said to use the light arrow on him, so I quickly dropped my sword to the ground and took my bow and quiver out.

 _Focus, focus!_ I chanted to myself as I set the arrow and took aim while he was still paralyzed.

The arrow soared out and struck Ganondorf. The moment it did, light bursted around him, before crashing into his body a second time.

I had to quickly put my arm through the bow and had it hanging off my shoulder as I snatched up the Master Sword. As Ganondorf was lowered to the ground, I had to make a quick dash around the ground and leapt over the huge gap as far as I could.

Ganondorf was still engulfed in a light flame and was gasping as he stayed in a kneeling position, so I let him have it with the Master Sword; every swing I made was all for something that he had taken away from us and I let myself enter a frenzy.

I didn't even get far enough; Ganondorf was able to fight off the light trapped inside him and shot back into the air where he forced the rest out.

I had no other option but to take a leap off the platform and get back across the gap.

"So you remember how you fought back in the forest?" There was a trace of anger being suppressed in Ganondorf's amusement. "Oddly enough, I do recall having a hand in taking care of the sage of that area. Unlike you, she barely put up much of a fight."

 _He's just trying to get to me, he's just trying to get to me._ I mentally chanted as I readied my sword.

"How does it feel to not have anyone to help you in this moment, girl? Do you feel that they will truly come to your aid or are you a scapegoat sent to defeat me? To me, you are nothing but a small child that was raised to be a murderer- we are not so different as you may think."

I gritted my teeth and waited.

Ganondorf realized that I was not going to play his mind game so he summoned up another ball of energy to send at me. Once more we repeated the game of hurling the ball of magic at each other and I willed myself to keep watch for as long as I could on the ball and not lose sight of it until I finally bested Ganondorf and sent another arrow into him.

This time when I sent a wave of attacks at him, I was a bit more aggressive. I suspected that the Triforce of Power granted him the strength to recover and I wanted to get a deeper injury on him. I kept trying repeatedly to do this while he was down but this quickly became a big mistake.

Ganondorf had been able to find some sort of power to overcome my strikes and this time he grabbed onto my sword as well as my neck. The Master Sword let out a strange smoke and Ganondrof was forced to let it go as if my blade was burning him.

"Stupid child!" He hissed in pain as his grip tightened on my neck, before flinging me across the room, where I collided against the wall and fell into a slump.

Goddesses he had one heck of a grip, as well as an aim. Was that from the Triforce of Power, or was that his own brute strength? It was a miracle I didn't pass out or get my throat crushed by him!

I could not just slash at him anymore- I had to try to cut his head off or plunge the Master Sword into a vulnerable spot, like his heart.

I forced myself to get myself back up and was thankful that nothing- internal or weapon wise- broke, though a few of my arrows were now scattered on the floor.

"If the little child wishes to grow up, then so be it!"

Ganondorf raised his arms up, but this time he began a different sort of magic as a yellow light grew over his head. I watched as streams of light shot into the light and I scrambled to get up and pull out my shield, since I had no idea what attack this was.

The light reached it's brightest and vanished as Ganondorf curled up as if he was holding it all inside him. He let out a battle yell and I only had enough time to see streaks of light coming right at me and I quickly raised my shield up in defense.

Most of the lights knocked me right back into the wall, but one managed to part away from the others and hit me right on the left side of my forehead.

I let out a cry that I tried to force back as the light crashed into my shield and let out a sound like thunder. The impact from the stray light to my head wasn't powerful, but it was almost similar to getting your skin scraped against the ground and I could feel a sharp burning sensation as sparks surged though me.

I lowered my shield as Ganondorf proceeded to raise a glowing fist to the air and I realized what he was about to do.

I forced myself up on my feet and ran as the ground shook underneath me. Just when I was feet away from a room corner, I felt the floor begin to fall and I forced myself to toss the Master Sword out to the floor of the corner and leap for it.

I only barely managed to catch the edge with my free hand and I was forced to toss the shield up onto the floor as I tried to hoist myself back up. Thank the Goddesses that this journey helped me develop some upper muscle, but it took me precious time to try to hoist myself up.

Ganondorf let out a laugh at the sight of my predicament. It only furthered my drive to try to pull myself up and I even tried to will my Triforce of Courage to give me a hand, though it wouldn't respond to my wishes.

I heard Ganondorf ready another spell by the time I got my arms up over the ledge and I had the option to either let go or try something different.

I swung my legs to my right to try to give me a bit of a boost and a surge of adrenaline granted me the ability to get most of my upper body up and onto the floor.

Ganondorf's spell struck me at that moment and I had to fight the urge to scream and keep still, or else risk falling again.

"You can't even use your own Triforce!" Ganondorf sneered at me. "It's as I had suspected! You never had the chance to use it properly!"

I gritted my teeth as the magic charged through me and I glared at my hand. What was the point in having it if I couldn't use it?"

Then again, I don't think I ever needed it to begin with. I got this far without it, right?

I clenched my hands into fists and forced myself to get up, despite the energy being charged through me as my hand reached into my pouch for a certain object, while the other grabbed the Master Sword.

"This is the pathetic child that Hyrule is counting on?!" Ganondorf yelled as he readied a now familiar ball of yellow energy- the one I wanted him to use. "You may be their Hero of Time, but time itself has made you its plaything and ran out on you!"

I set the object at my feet and readied my sword. Once more, I found myself in a dueling match against Ganondorf, but I prayed to the Master Sword to help me on this one and not let me lose my strength with each swing.

Back, forth, back, forth- each swing felt as if it was draining me, but I couldn't lose! I had to let my swings be gentle to avoid losing energy from a ferocious swing!

It never seemed to end and Ganondorf was getting fiercer with each knock back. It was tricky to keep an eye on him because my head was still smarting from the wound, which was bleeding, but I stayed focused on the matter at hand.

Finally the fates smiled upon me and Ganondorf was consumed by his own magic. I acted quickly and shot the light arrow, but once it made contact, I picked up my sword and the object I needed and took aim at Ganondorf.

The hook of the longshot struck Ganondorf right in the chest. He screamed as I was drawn in, but I took a swing at him as soon as I got close enough, before I could get on my feet and pull the longshot out of him.

I didn't hesitate to stop as I held my sword out and slashed at him twice- I had to end this.

Finally, I took my sword in both hands and plunged it into his chest as hard as I could, right where I assumed his heart was located.

"That's for the deaths of everyone who died under your rule, you monster!" I snarled as I twisted the blade and ripped it out of the King of Evil and finished it up with a cut to the neck while I still had my sword drawn out.

Ganondorf arched back with a hand into the air with a scream that sounded like it was mixed some sort of gurgling noise before he clutched his neck and knelt over, while the whole room took on a dark green hue.

I took a few steps back away from him- with my sword out in case of an emergency- as he looked up at me in disbelief and anger in his glowing eyes- the whiteness in them was now tinged with red. He was panting rather heavily and it sounded too deep to be that of a normal man's dying breath.

"The..." He panted as he struggled to breath for air, "Great Evil King Ganondorf... beaten by this kid?!"

He panted a few times before he arched back and spit out something greenish red- was it vomit, or was it his blood that was tainted by darkness? I couldn't tell.

He just stared at me wide eyed in shock as his body trembled.

"You-" He snarled like a beast before he held his hands down and let out a strange growling noise of fury. Despite his wounds, he was able to stand and throw his hands up into the air as a surge of his yellow magic surround and engulfed him, while banishing the darkness away. The whole room began to tremble and I saw that the windows were shattering into several pieces.

I realized that he was going to try to bury me with him in the rubble but it was too late to do anything. Everything turned a nasty shade of yellow in my eyes, before it changed to white.

 **-To be continued-**

* * *

 **Final Outtakes (unless you have suggestions for the next chapter)**

 **-Which Dark side?-**

" _FINE!" Link yelled as he held up the mirror and saw his determined face staring back at him on it's surface. "Take it then! Turn me into a creature of darkness! Rob me of my emotions, re-write my personality-"_

" _Are you certain you want that?" The voice asked. "You could either become a Byronic hero type and gain more fan girls or you could turn into a real jerk. Seriously, you could end up like that one version of yourself from youtube who acts like a-"_

" _I am aware of that." Link's desperation had already evaporated and was replaced with slight annoyance._

" _Or, in the absolute worst case scenario..." the voice continued, "you turn into your cartoon or CDI self."_

 _Link starred at the mirror for a few moments._

 _He then slowly put the mirror back on the pedestal before running out of the room as fast as he could._

 **-Wrong organist (take 1)-**

I pushed myself up off the ground and continued on. All the while, the ominous music increased until I opened the boss door and found myself in a huge spacious room with walls lined with stained glass windows and there was some sort of pillar with bars that rose from the center to the ceiling.

"It's coming from up above us." Ivan noted. "He knows-"

The music suddenly changed into something different- it was almost as eerie as the last musical number, but it was also mournful.

"What the Din?!"

**1**

The well dressed person at the organ was not Ganondorf.

Instead, he looked like some sort of mutated cross between a zora and octorock, who was playing the keys with his beard... tentacle... thingies. I guess it was better than trying to use his hands- one was a claw of some sort.

" _OOOOOHH!"_

I glanced up to see that Ruto- or at least a ghost version of her- was on the other side of the organist. _"I think I found myself a potential future husband!"_ She squealed in delight.

"What was that lass?" The organist looked up in confusion.

 **-Did you ever wonder what would have happened if...-**

I grinned and raced across the bridge towards the final stage of my journey. "Yeah let's kick his butt!" I agreed as I felt the child inside me that had disappeared come back in all her giddy glee.

Then without any warning the bridge suddenly flickered and vanished, leaving me standing on absolutely nothing but empty air.

I screamed the whole way down while cursing the sages with what I was sure to be my dying breath.

 **-Wrong organist (take 2)-**

"It's coming from up above us." Ivan noted. "He knows-"

The music suddenly changed into something different. It was eerie and it did sound pretty cool, but something about it was really ticking me off.

**2**

"Come Vegnagun! Let us destroy Spira together!" A blonde man laughed as he pounded away at the keys.

Ah, now I know why it was ticking me off.

"Zelda, do me a solid and kill him!" Link yelled down at me.

I slowly took the Megaton Hammer out and walked towards the blonde man.

"Whoa, what are you doing?!" Ivan asked me.

"He's a _Final Fantasy_ character." I snarled. "We don't take kindly to that franchise around these parts!"

"What the heck are you talking about? And what's a _Final Fantasy_?"

 **-Something else, bro?-**

"Yo G-man!" Link called down from his prison. "Can't you play something else, like Metallica's ' _One_ '? Something from Nightwish? Hans Zimmer? Luca Turilli? Or something else that might sound cooler on the organ?"

The music continued.

" _Eleanor Rigby_? _Tais-toi mon coeur_ or _L'Homme Sans Trucage_? The Luigi's Mansion theme? _What is Love?_ Molgera's theme? Stone Tower temple theme? The Castlevania theme? Anything _other_ than your theme song?"

The music still continued.

"The Rocky Theme? Guns and Roses or Poison? The Mortal Kombat theme music? Man, it kind makes you think of what other songs could sound a lot cooler on the organ... how about some David Bowie?"

The music _still_ continued.

"You have no soul, good sir."

The music finally changed... only it was the Troll Song.

Link repeatedly slammed his head against the wall of his crystal prison while he felt Shadow screaming for a desire to slaughter fifty monsters at once.

 **-Wrong organist (take three)-**

"It's coming from up above us." Ivan noted. "He knows-"

The music suddenly changed into something different- it was pretty sinister and creepy.

Wait... I heard that melody somewhere before.

**3**

"Now _you,_ I like!" I grinned at the dark haired man with the yellow eyes at the organ.

Up until then he had been pretty engaged in the instrument and when he finally turned to face me, I realized that he was wearing a white half mask on the other side of his face.

"Who are you Mademoiselle?" He asked me in a slightly musical tone of voice as I tried to recall where the heck I saw that half mask-

" _And though were forced to do... this tribute... the Shadow of the Hyrule thinks that... you look real cute."_

"THE CIRCLE FROM CHAPTER 7 HAS BEEN COMPLETED!" I almost jumped out of my skin when a blonde girl popped out of nowhere night next to me.

"AH SWEET NAYRU!" Ivan screamed and darted right into the organist's head in his panic and knocked more than just the mask right off his face.

Ivan screamed again as I stared in shock at what he accidentally uncovered underneath the mask. (Though I had the sense to keep my mouth shut.)

"WHAT THE ****?!" Ivan screamed. "ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE SOME SORT OF STALFOS MIXED WITH A RE-DEAD?!"

The girl became horrified as she turned pale white.

"Oh _fudgemuffins_. I'm dead- I'm _so_ dead right now." She squeaked while the organist began to look _more_ than a little offended and set his eyes upon her for some reason.

 **-Why I didn't use the hover boots in this chapter-**

"Get off!" I grunted as I tried to pull my boots off while I was in an awkward sitting position. If I could use the hover boots, then maybe this fight could be a lot more easier!

Finally I pulled them off- only to get a blast of magic to my face a second later.

 **-Ivan loses it- wait, what?-**

"OK THAT'S IT!" Ivan suddenly yelled. "I HAD IT WITH THESE STUPID OUTTAKES AND LACK OF COMPREHENSION IN THIS WORLD!"

Zelda stared at Ivan as he continued to rant.

"Uh... Ivan, what are you-"

"THIS WHOLE DAMN STORY IS IDIOTIC TO BEGIN WITH! 'OH LET'S NOT DO OUR RESEARCH ABOUT THE MASTER SWORD LOCKING AWAY THE HERO! LET'S LOCK UP AN ABOMINATION UNDER A VILLAGE WHERE WE DRINK! LET'S MAKE OUR TEMPLES INTO PUZZLES WE CAN BARELY NAVIGATE! OH AND THEN THERE'S MY FAVORITE- LET'S JUST SEAL THE BAD GUY AWAY WITHOUT KILLING HIM OR TAKING HIS TRIFORCE AWAY?! WHAT KIND OF BRILLIANT IDEA IS THAT?!"

"Ivan-"

"AND THEN THERE'S THE OTHER STUFF WE HAD TO DEAL WITH TOO! THAT FAT KING'S THRONE IS RIGHT WHERE WE NEEDED TO GET TO JABU-JABU! DARUNIA WAS TOO STUPID TO TRY TO DEAL WITH DODONGO BY HIMSELF! WE HAVE A VILLIAN THAT DOESN'T TAKE OUR HERO SERIOUSLY ENOUGH TO JUST KILL-"

Zelda momentarily glanced around to see what else was happening. Link somehow got out a gameboy color and was playing on it in his crystal prison (because OOT originally came out in 1998, of course.). Ganondorf was waiting impatiently under the organ for the fairy to shut up.

Speaking of... Zelda glanced over to see that the other three organists were STILL there.

Davy Jones was forced to deal with the spirit of Ruto and had an incredibly annoyed look in his eyes. The FF character was still on the floor and unconscious from the Megaton Hammer, but no one really cared about him. The final organist was glaring angrily at the writer, who looked as if she was trying not to cry as he was taking some sort of rope fashioned into a noose out of his pockets.

"Look I forgot that Ivan is a bit insensitive when he's scared!" She pleaded. "I was just wanting to take advantage of an opportunity and attempt another crossover, not to mention there's that debt I have to-!"

Zelda did not want to witness the horrible fate the girl would most likely endure so she turned back to Ivan who was STILL ranting.

"-COW THAT SOMEHOW GOT IN THE HOLE! AND THEN THE WHOLE SHOOTING AN ARROW AT THE SUN, WHICH CANNOT BE SCIENTIFICALLY POSSIBLE, EVEN IN OUR MESSED UP UNIVERSE! YOU KNOW WHAT?! I DARE THE GODDESSES TO DO SOMETHING HORRIBLE TO ME RIGHT NOW!" He turned to face the ceiling. "COME ON! DO YOUR WORST! I DARE YOU TO DO SOMETHING HORRENDOUS! ARE YOU GOING TO GIVE ME A COW THAT'LL PRODUCE CHOCOLATE MILK IF IT EATS IT?!"

At that point a magical vortex appeared under Ivan and something awful and very degrading happened to the poor sucker: a girl with a long braid leapt up and scooped him into a bottle.

" _I GOT AN EXPOSITION FAIRY_!" She sang in a _'dah-dah-dah-dahhhhh!'_ tone as she held the bottle up. Ivan was frantically trying to escape his confines and was letting out a string of curses that could not be written out, due to their graphic nature.

" _I made a cameo_!" She sang in the same style as she re-treated back into the vortex.

Zelda blankly stared as the vortex vanished.

"GAH!" The writer now had a tight noose around her neck, which she managed to grab in time. "RETREAT! RETREAT!" A huge vortex formed under her and the three organists, who were sucked away from the room and sent to who knows where.

"CURSES!" Ruto let out as the vortex vanished. "Lost another one!"

Link looked up from his gameboy and shrugged. "Eh, I've seen weirder stuff in other AUs and parodies."

* * *

 **For the story:**

 **Is Ganondorf saying 'phooey-a!' or 'bodgey-bat!' when he does that one attack? Eh, whatever. I hope I did an ok job- Ganondorf's fight was not easy to work with, since it looks too simplistic in the game.**

 **For those who haven't read Hyrule Warriors Warped: Shadow** _ **was/is**_ **mainly based off the manga counterpart from Four Swords Adventures (which is where his aversion to light comes from), but he is still the Dark Link from OOT. I think Link summed up how Shadow works already in personality, but there are a few other nods when it came to Link's dark side form Zelda lore not mentioned here- the cloak he frequently wore is from the 1990 comic 'The Price of Power' when Link was becoming corrupted by the Triforce of Power.**

 **Unfortunately, I couldn't let Shadow use his full potential as seen in Hyrule Warriors Warped (including the 'ten seconds' gag.) to keep him from falling too far from his OOT counterpart.**

 **There is actually a better explanation of Shadow's nature in Hyrule Warriors Warped; I recommend checking it out if you want to read my other AUs.**

 **To those who** _ **are**_ **reading Hyrule Warriors Warped- yes this is the exact same mirror, but it was found under different circumstances. And of course, the mirror reacts differently to those who touch it ( I wonder if it's got a spirit inside it...** _ **nahhhh.)**_

 **Also, that speech Link did was hard to write out. I mean, what with real life issues of wars, police abusing their powers, and simple things like 'why can't Batman just kill Joker despite all he's done' and the very unfortunate case of children being turned into soldiers in certain countries- it's something that's very tricky to work with, given the comparisons.**

 **The outtakes:**

 **I don't hate Final Fantasy and I actually like Final Fantasy 10-2. However, I can only imagine how bad the rivalry between franchises can get at times (especially how often FF7 and OOT fight for the title of 'Greatest Game Ever'.)**

 **I'm sorry but I HAD to use another Phantom of the Opera gag- I love it too much to not make another joke and the real kicker is that the incarnation I'm using in particular is supposed to be from another AU fan fic I've been writing (Three Wishes) and who was unlucky enough to get dragged into this mess.**

 _ **Long**_ **story short: the fictional HolyMaiden24 thought she could take advantage of things and attempt an epic crossover between three fan fics in a quest to erase an in-story debt, while the real HolyMaiden24 sensed the same thing.**

 **It has obviously backfired, but Holymaiden24's fictional self will recover from her misfortune.**

 **Every fictional character belongs to their respective owners. Every song mentioned belongs to their respective bands, composers, or singers. Every band or singer belongs to themselves.**


	16. The Madness of the Boar

**mysteriousguy898: That's Undertale right? I still need to play that game. I wasn't planning on using a hookshot in the battle, but I was watching a video of a fight against Ganondorf and the person opted to use the hookshot instead of the hover boots. I was all 'practical AND more injury to Ganondorf!'**

 **I never played Banjo and Kazooie the whole way through and I used the fictional organists that I DID know (though Shuyin was more of a pianist... eh.)**

 **I wanted Ganondorf to do more than float around and shoot magic at Zelda. (The poor girl's injuries and traumas are slowly out beating the other Zeldas at this point.)**

 **Ganondorf was able to get stabbed in TP and lost his Triforce of Power in the process- I think it COULD be possible, until proven otherwise. Oh lord the issue with the Triforce of Power- I had a lot of difficulty with this chapter due to what happens in the game with that in mind.**

 **PokemonTrainer4700: I don't know if I will get to Wind Waker, even though I had ideas in my head. At this point, I want to finish both Zelda fan fics before I start anything that will go over six chapters, and I once made a promise to do Minish Cap before temptations got the better of me.**

 **HeroAlexa249: Ivan reacted like Zant would have been a good alternative, but I had a feeling he would figure out who Shadow really was and went with that reaction.**

 **I never realized how serious the issues that would have occurred in OOT physiologically affected Link, and it makes me realize just how deeper those issues must run in this series. Alas, poor Ruto- lost another potential suitor, though I think he was already taken.**

* * *

 **Alright, now let's boogie and get to the final battle! I recall that many of you want Ganondorf to suffer for all he did thus far, so lets see if I can make good on that if I wasn't able to last time... oh wait... shoot I forgot about Ivan! Right, I haven't finished the next chapter of Hyrule Warriors Warped yet... hmm...**

Ivan was thrown out of the same portal he was taken into and landed on top of Zelda's head.

"So... what happened with that one girl?" Zelda inquired as the portal vanished.

"...I... don't remember." Ivan confessed with a groan.

 **Ok, now we can get back to the story! :D**

* * *

 **Chapter 16- The Madness of the Boar**

When the light faded, I found myself miraculously standing in front of Ganondorf, who still had his arms extended to the heavens. The room we were in was completely destroyed and exposed us to the darkened sky- how we both survived was beyond me, but my focus was on Ganondorf, who remained still.

"Zelda?!"

My eyes shifted briefly to see Ivan flying right next to me. His voice was filled with relief, but there was caution in it when he saw Ganondorf.

I held my sword out- I was ready to defend myself if necessary.

Ganondorf collapsed to his knees and fell forward onto the ground. Moments passed and he didn't get up, nor could I see him breathing- though I didn't want to try to flip him over to find out.

I stared at my fallen foe as Ivan nervously asked. "Is... is he dead?"

I wasn't entirely sure; did I really kill the man before me?

I frowned at his form. "Ganondorf... pitiful man. He relied too heavily on the Triforce and it cost him in the end."

"Zelda... I'm sorry I wasn't there for you." Ivan apologized. "Ganondorf's magic swept me away and the next thing I knew, I was trapped in darkness."

"Its ok Ivan." I smiled as I held a hand towards him. "I only got a few marks here and there."

We then heard a strange ringing sound and I glanced up in time to see that the crystal that Link was in was lowering down from the sky until it reached the ground where it faded away. Link was finally freed from Ganondorf, but I didn't rush towards him like I wanted to as the first thing he did was take a took at Ganondorf's body.

I didn't know what was going through his head when he saw that the man who killed his mother was now laying at his feet, but I had a feeling that I knew what was on his mind; those who he cared for had been avenged. It was finally over for him.

Link slowly turned around to face me, but then flinched. "Y-your face-" he stammered.

I reached a hand to touch the still bleeding wound; I could feel that the blood had seeped into my hair as it had ran down part of my face. "Its nothing." I shrugged it off. "Its better than-"

Without any warning, Link rushed up to me and I found myself being squeezed against him as tightly as he could in a big hug without hurting me.

"You have _no_ idea how afraid I was for you." Link almost whispered in my ear as I felt his hands tighten up on me. "I thought I was going to lose you for good."

I was rendered speechless at Link's actions and words. A small part of me even acknowledged that my heart was beating almost as fast as it normally did during a fight.

Without saying a word, I hugged Link back while holding the Master Sword at an angle so that I wouldn't accidentally hurt him.

For one moment nothing else mattered- just the relief at being alive and able to have this small comfort.

Then the ground began to shake.

I gasped as I let go of Link, who looked around in alarm. "Wh-what's going on?!" Ivan demanded.

Link's mouth drew to a deep grimace as he grabbed my free hand. "We got to go _now_!" He yelled as he lead me away towards a gray flooring which turned out to be some sort of twisting slope that twisted around the tower.

"He's trying to crush us with his dying breath!" Link yelled as Ivan flew right next to me. "We got to get out of here before its too late!"

"Why not use that one spell?!" Ivan demanded. "The one with the green wind?"

"Because Ganondorf took it away from me!"

The tower kept shaking and it threatened to shake us off the ground and towards a nasty drop to our deaths, while the whole castle kept falling apart, piece by piece. It wasn't long before chunks of flaming debris began falling towards us.

Link let out a curse as we barely avoided one of these obstacles and reached a section into the castle that was barred off. "Please let me have enough to take care of this!" He pleaded as he held his hand out towards the bars and raised it up as a pulsating pinkish aura shot out of his hands. The bars raised for us and we were able to quickly get inside.

"I just want you to know that in case we don't get out alive," Link began as we hurried through the room with the pillar that rose to the upper floor. "that I'm glad that it was you who became the Hero of Time! I don't know how I can repay you for all you had to go through, but I want you to know that everyone is forever in debt to you!"

I couldn't think of how to respond; I was too focused on getting out of here alive.

Link was able to raise up the next set of bars and we found ourselves outside again. "JUMP!" He yelled and we quickly leapt over a gap to get across. We were forced to do it again on the way back down, before he could open up a third set of bars.

"Ganondorf should have done something more direct than try to kill us with his own castle!" Ivan commented as we hurried through a room filled with flaming debris.

The room was shaking more and I was worried that maybe we wouldn't get out in time, considering how long it took to get up here in the first place.

After Link opened a fourth door, we were outside again. We kept running as fast as we could to get away and I was starting to feel a pain in my chest and throat, but I knew I had to keep going. When we entered another part of the castle, I momentarily let go of Link's hand as I struggled to catch my breath.

"Zelda?!" He turned around to face me when he realized he went several steps ahead without me, but that was the moment he became surrounded by a ring of fire. "You've got to be kidding me!" He exclaimed. Seconds later, two stalfos appeared and I let out a moan as I readied my sword.

Link shielded his face with his arms and _bursted through through the fire_ as I tried to face one of the stalfos. Link quickly dropped to the ground and rolled around as fast as he could until the fire was gone and he quickly got up and took a swing at a stalfos the moment he had a chance to draw his sword.

"Are you alright?!" I shouted in concern at him as I was able to finish off my stalfos.

"I'm good!" He yelled back as he was able to finish off a stalfos. "Now let's get the heck out of here!" He grabbed my hand again as he put the sword away and lead me to the next set of bars.

"You could have burnt yourself to death!" Ivan yelled at Link as he raised them up.

"Wouldn't be the first time!" Link retorted back as he pulled me through.

As we hurried down, I saw how close we were to making it to the bottom. We were almost out of there!

We kept running as fast as we could, even when it was getting too physically draining, and the castle grounds were shaking more so than ever. Any moment now, the castle would collapse and bury us.

"For the love of Hylia, please let us make it!" Link pleaded as we hurried out of a room and down a flight of stairs.

We finally made it to some sort of bridge that I immediately recognized as being part of the room to the tower's entrance. Unfortunately there was an obstacle I was not expecting in the form of a _re-dead_ of all things.

"Link, look out!" I screamed, but the beast let out a piercing cry that froze us in place. I could not move my body and watched as the re-dead slowly stepped towards us.

This couldn't be how I was going to die! I was going to either get crushed to death by the castle because of this re-dead, or this one re-dead was going to kill me when Ganondorf and other monsters were unable to do so!

" _I HATE RE-DEADS_!" Ivan screamed and slammed himself right into the re-dead's head. Somehow this actually broke the spell and Link hurried us towards the set of bars across the other side.

"Come on, come on, come on!" Link pleaded as he raised the bars up and this time there was no waiting as we ducked under them when they rose and Ivan caught up with us.

"Oh for _Din's sake_!" Link yelled when we saw a set of bars blocking us off from the outside as we hurried up the steps. "How many bars and stairs did he need in this place?!" Still, Link was able to raise the bars up and we found ourselves right outside the castle.

"Hurry!" Link yelled as his grip on me tightened and he ran faster than before as he pulled me away from the castle. I turned around in time to see a series of explosions on the upper parts of the tower and the pathways that we walked were falling to the ground. The whole castle was shaking and turrets were falling over, but with each large explosion, the ground shook so hard that I thought we could fall over.

Link let out a curse and stopped. "There's no way out!" I glanced ahead and saw that there was only a deep drop ahead of us towards the lava below and we were now trapped.

"Give me the blue crystal!" Link yelled as Ivan caught up and was now by my head. I was able to find it in my pouch and quickly handed it off to Link, who held it up to the sky. "Nayru's Love, please protect us!"

Much like during the battle with the Iron Knuckle, we were covered by a blue crystal, but this time it solidified and I couldn't see what was happening to the castle.

Link quickly grabbed me and we knelt to the shaking ground. There was nothing we could do now but wait out the destruction of the castle and pray that the crystal could protect all three of us from the debris.

None of us said a word; I think all of us were praying for the Goddesses to protect us in that moment and for the crystal to remain solid around us. It was possibly one of the tensest moments I had ever experienced during the journey, since there was no guarantee of survival.

We waited as everything outside our barrier became even more chaotic, before the ground eventually stopped shaking and the destruction slowly gave way to the sound of the roaring wind.

A few moments passed before the spell vanished and we could look up to see what had happened.

There was nothing left of the castle except for a vast space of ground, smoke that still rose here and there, and various remains of it's architecture, including a huge pile of rubble at the center. In a matter of moments, Ganondorf's show of power had been laid to waste, just as the man himself had been defeated.

I stared in disbelief at the sight. "It.. its over?"

"I... I guess it is." Link was also having a hard time believing it. He glanced at me for a moment and I realized I was still holding onto him. I almost pulled away until he gave me a genuine smile of happiness that I don't think I ever saw from him in a long time and it was making my heart pound again. I couldn't help put smile back at him.

We were alive and it was finally over.

Ivan let out a snicker. "What?" I asked as I looked up at Ivan.

"I just realized something." He told me. "I don't know if it was Ganondorf or us responsible for it, but I think we just witnessed the end result of a really big whoopsie."

It took a moment for that to sink in before I started cracking up with laughter and let go of Link as I let it all out. Ivan was unable to keep quiet and also join in the laughter, leaving Link to wonder what we were talking about.

Oh Goddesses I couldn't stop laughing and I was crying because of it, but it felt so good to just let it all out and laugh again!

The moment I was finally able to take a deep breath of air, we heard a strange sound from the remains of the castle that took all my happiness away. I let out a gasp as Link quickly moved forward and shot an arm out in front of me. "What was that?" He growled.

I had a really bad feeling in my gut right then and there. I knew that I killed Ganondorf, but what if... no, that would be impossible, would it?

I forced myself to get up and took my sword out. "I'll take it from here Link."

"No wait!" Link grabbed my arm and I turned around to see him get up. For some reason he looked more terrified than he ever had been before. "Zelda, don't-" he then had a strange look in his eyes as if he lost focus on his surroundings.

 **-Link's POV-**

 _Once again, I see a vision of her in an open coffin, but now something has changed. Above the coffin are two glowing figures- the oldest looks about my age, if not older, and he is slightly overweight, while his hair is sapphire blue and his eyes are a more lighter shade of blue. He carefully holds Zelda in his arms and she looks like when I first met her as a child._

 _She is giving me a bittersweet, apologetic smile, but the young man holding at her is glaring at me. If I didn't know any better I would have assumed they were siblings, but I knew right away that the young man was none other than Ivan._

 _A pair of fairy like wings burst from the young man's back and he takes Zelda up into the white light above them._

I can't move. It's as if my body was frozen stiff and I can't move a muscle against my will. Its almost like something doesn't want me to stop Zelda.

I think I know why and I can't scream out the warning to her.

 **-Zelda's POV-**

"Its ok Link." I gently pulled away from Link, who showed a surprising amount of a lack of protest in this. "I promise I'll be quick."

Ivan flew towards me and I turned around to go ahead and see what was wrong. Even as I made my way to the destruction and I tried to tell myself that it was just the rubble, something inside me knew better.

"ZELDA, WAIT!" Link yelled at me as soon as I got close enough to the huge pile, but it was too late for him to do anything- I heard a roaring sound and when I turned around, a thick wall of flames shot out around the outer ring of the ground and separated us from Link. This time the fires were too thick for him to escape through to come to my aid.

"Link?!" I panicked and turned back to the rubble as I already knew what was happening as the sky turned dark.

I could only watch as something bursted up from the large pile rubble and hovered into the air- no, it was _someone_ who I thought I had killed with my sword.

Ganondorf was alive and was breathing heavily as he stared at me, but something about him froze me to my core and I felt an overwhelming fear that I couldn't understand until I saw his eyes. Though his profile was shrouded in darkness, his eyes glowed a reddish yellow and they stared at me with an intense hatred that was so horrible that it was as if I knew that he wanted my death more than life itself.

In that moment, I really did feel like a scared little child again; I don't think I ever felt this afraid in my entire life.

Ganondorf raised his fist to reveal the Triforce of Power shinning ever so brightly- the reason for his survival. I realized to my horror that I didn't even try to claim the Triforce of Power from him when I had the chance.

Ganondorf let out a horrible roaring sound and curled up before he threw himself out and was engulfed in a blast of blue light. I recoiled and watched as his form darkened in the light and expanded in size until it became five or six times my size.

As he grew in size, he curled up and brought down his head to reveal that he was no longer human- in fact, he became some sort of horned behemoth.

He fell to the ground and I could only stare at what Ganondorf had become- a monster with two huge tridents in his hands, goat hooves, and a face that reminded me of a boar. There was nothing even _remotely_ Gerudo about him anymore.

" _The boar is a sign of great strength and power, but it's also a sign of greed and madness."_

" **I,"** The monster panted. **"Am... Ganon-!"** He let out an awful roar and swung his weapons out without stopping as thunder crashed from the sky.

I let out a cry and held my sword up to defend myself from the barrage of attacks, when one of them hit the Master Sword so hard that I felt it fly right out of my hands. I let out a cry of horror as my sword spun overhead, right through the fire, and land right into the ground next to Link.

"The Master Sword!" Ivan gasped in horror.

I realized that Ganondorf- or Ganon as he now called himself- had me right where he wanted me this time, now that he understood how much of a hinderance I was. I was trapped with him and there was no weapon that could possibly help me out of this one.

"Zelda catch!" Link quickly pulled his sword out and threw it through the fire as hard as he could. I wasted no time in running over towards him and- to my luck- the sword's handle made it past the flames. I quickly picked the biggoron's sword up, though it was so heavy that it required both hands and left me defenseless.

"I'll try to get the Master Sword out!" Link yelled. "Just try to hold on until then!"

I turned to face Ganon, who was slowly approaching me. How was it that he was more terrifying than any monster I faced thus far? Then I saw the look in his eyes again and knew why- this one wanted me dead and would not try to toy with me in any way. My death was all that mattered to him.

"There's no way he's going to hold me back again!" Ivan swore. "This time, we fight together!"

"All the way!" I agreed as I hurried to get around my foe and tried to think of a strategy on how to defeat him without running into the path of his weapons; weapons that could slice right through me if I wasn't careful enough.

"Alright, so I take it that I can't just go after him since he has those weapons!" I began as I tried to hurry away from Ganon as he stomped his way after me. "What's your input? Can you see any weak spots?!"

"Let me look!" Ivan flew up.

 **-Link's POV-**

This could not be happening!

There was no way I could get through the fire this time and the biggoron's sword would only help for so long, but Zelda needed the Master Sword in order to have a chance against Ganon. I had to get it back to her somehow, but I was reminded of the vision I had awhile ago and the fact that the handle of the blade once burned my hand.

I grabbed the handle and the moment I did, I felt a shooting pain in my hand. I quickly withdrew my hand and squeezed it with my other hand.

"You have got to be kidding me!" I yelled at the blade. "I'm not Shadow anymore!"

 **-Zelda's POV-**

"I can't tell!" Ivan panicked as he returned beside me. "We could either try to get him in the eyes, or we could try to get him by the tail, but that's too risky!"

"The... tail?" I wondered as Ganon approached me. It was so dark that only the moment of the flash of lightning could allow one to see what was on the ground and illuminate the beast before me.

Ganon was larger now, but I was still small- I could probably use that to my advantage. I didn't have my bow on me- I lost it during the fight, so that only left one option.

"Tail it is!" I declared as I decided to do something rather risky and ran towards Ganon. The moment he moved his arm back, I quickly backed away and the very second after he took a swing, I ran over and between his legs. As he tried to look for me, I quickly took a swipe at his tail, though the weight of the sword almost pulled me along with it. In retaliation, he let out a ghastly cry and I quickly ran away from him.

He tried to go after me, but he couldn't identify where I was unless the thunder lit up the sky for him to take a look- I suppose I had to thank Shadow for making me realize that I could use the darkness to my advantage. While Ganon was distracted, I hurried to take another swipe at his tail, before I had to hightail it. I was already missing the Master Sword- it had felt like a part of me for so long and this other sword felt unfamiliar in my hands.

"He'll figure you out sooner or later!" Ivan warned me.

 **-Link's POV-**

I prepared myself again as I casted frantic glance back to the fight and gritted my teeth as I grabbed the hilt of the Master Sword again. I could feel it burning my palm and fingers, but I had to pull it out of the ground. This was nothing, compared to the torture I suffered at the Spirit Temple, but it was still unpleasant.

"What is your problem?!" I hissed. "You can't honestly expect someone to be completely pure of heart in order to touch you!"

I finally pulled it out of the ground enough to get it loose, but by then I was forced to let go of it.

 **-Zelda's POV-**

One of the tridents hit a pile of rubble and I barely avoided getting hit.

"I don't know how long I can keep this up!" I panted as I forced myself to run. This was one fight that would not let me rest, even for a moment, as Hyrule's fate required me to stay away from Ganon's weapons. I wish I had my bow so I could try to blind Ganon, but was to say that he would knock the arrow away?

My body was getting tired again and it was not looking good.

"The Master Sword!" I yelled to Link. "Please hurry-"

"WATCH OUT!" Ivan screamed at me.

I felt something heavy and hard hit me in the back.

I screamed as I went soaring through the air and across the ground, before I came several feet away from where Link was. The biggoron's sword had flown right out of my hands at some point and not even a shield could be able to protect me.

I struggled to get up and I looked up in time to see Link quickly reach for the Master Sword, just as the sound of large footsteps kept getting louder behind me.

 **-Ivan's POV-**

Why didn't that idiot just try to shoot light arrows from where he was at Ganon?!

Ganon was getting closer and closer to Zelda, and he was almost within striking distance.

I realized what I had to do to buy her time. Normally I would regret doing this, but I had no choice- Zelda's life depended on it.

I zoomed right at Ganon's head- more like his eyes- and screamed as loud as I could.

" _HEEEEEEEEEEY!"_

 **-Zelda's POV-**

With a burst of stamina, I turned around to see my companion zoom right at Ganon's face and repeatedly waved himself into it.

"HEY! HEY! LOOK LOOK, YOU UGLY PORKER! LISTEN! LISTEN!"

What was Ivan _doing_?! He was going to get himself killed!

"Zelda!"

I turned my head back to see Link throw the Master Sword right through the fires and it clattered a few feet next to me.

I quickly got myself up and grabbed my Master Sword as Ivan continued yelling for Ganon's attention. It was when I turned around, that I saw Ganon finally smacking Ivan away as hard as he could, before swinging his trident at Ivan.

"NO!" I screamed.

I didn't see Ivan when the trident moved away, but I could see a familiar glow upon the ground. The worst case scenario came to mind, even as I hoped against hope that what I just saw didn't happen, and I was feeling my anger getting to me.

"DON'T YOU _DARE_!" I screamed at Ganon and aimed my sword at him as he raised his blade up to attack my companion and kill him. "IT'S ME YOU WANT, GANONDORF! COME AND GET ME!"

Ganon turned around and came after me, just as I told him to. I had to tell myself to stay calm, even as something inside my head was screaming to lash out at him.

He came after me and I hurried back into the fray. I would not have the luck of Ivan by my side, but I knew what I had to do and get to the tail.

It never seemed to end- repeatedly attacking his tail, only for him to try to attack me back. Each time was wearing me out- to to mention that I had to avoid getting a counter attack if I was successful- and I wanted to get to Ivan and see if he was ok.

I gritted my teeth- I had already lost someone with each victory I had gained over Ganondorf. I was not going to lose Ivan this time! I could not! Ivan meant everything to me! Ivan stood by for my sake and put up with all I had to face, so I wouldn't have to do it alone!

If anyone had to be the last person to die along with Ganon, then it had to be me!

"AGHHH!" I screamed as I attacked Ganon once more and gave both his legs a deep cut with the wave of my sword. As he let out a screaming noise, I hurried to the glowing light that was Ivan and picked him up.

"Ivan!" I pleaded. "Ivan please be ok!"

"Zelda." A weak voice came out. "His... head... you... have to stab him... in the head." he panted.

I glanced up at Ganon- like me, he was also getting exhausted, but it looked like he was getting more so than I was. The injury I gave him was not helping him in anyway, but I knew that it was also going to make him more enraged and eager to get me. I had to be really careful this time.

"If I could have access to his head, then I would finish him off!" I told Ivan. "But I can't!"

"Doesn't look like you'll have to wait much longer." Ivan wheezed. "You can tell just how many mistakes the idiot made... he's already worn himself out in trying to strike you down. Maybe one more will get him to your level."

"I'll try." I gulped as I set Ivan on my shoulder. "Hang onto my hair as tight as you can!" I rushed back towards Ganon.

As expected, Ganon doubled his pace and became more violent in his attacks as I was forced to outrun the tridents and leap over rubble. In some cases, I had to dodge the destruction of the remains of his own tower.

My heart felt like it was going to burst at any moment and I couldn't breathe. I glanced back and tried to think of when to get Ganon.

"Zelda, I think I can distract him one more time." Ivan panted. "Give me a minute."

"Ivan, no!" I protested, but Ivan ignored me and zoomed up to Ganon's face with a burst of energy.

"Hey porker! You didn't kill me!" Ivan shrieked. "What kind of evil king are you anyway?!"

Ganon again tried to swipe Ivan away, but I was granted a chance to run between his legs and attack him in the tail again.

Ganon spun around and flailed is arms up in the air before he collapsed onto the ground and propelled himself up with one of his tridents. In his moment of weakness, he was unable to hold the flames that separated me from Link up any longer, and he trembled as he stared at me, while I stared back.

"Got him." Ivan huffed as he attached himself onto my hair.

I readied my sword to prepare to go for the head and ran towards him.

"GANONDORF!"

A burst of yellow light magic came out of nowhere and hit Ganon; it made Ganon shriek in pain, but he was unable to move as it continued coming at him. I turned to see that Link was keeping his hands in place as the light came out of him.

"GIVE HIM THE FINAL BLOW!" Link yelled. "I'LL HOLD HIM AS LONG AS YOU NEED ME TO!"

I felt the Master Sword glow warm in my hand and I glanced at it to see that it was glowing with a soft blue aura. It felt comforting in my hands, as if it was an extension of myself, instead of a mere weapon.

"It... it must be lending you its power." Ivan panted. "Its going to give Ganondorf a painful sting."

I stared at the blade for one moment and knew that I could not let everyone down now- this was the moment I was waiting for. This was why I left the forest all those years ago.

"Let's finish this Ivan." I told my companion. "Lets show this monster what I'm made of!"

I looked to Ganon, who was still frozen in place by Link's magic. I narrowed my eyes at Ganon and forced myself to run towards him. As I did, the memories came flooding back to me:

 _The Great Deku Tree- my father-dying before my eyes... Ganondorf attacking me as a child... Malon's suffering... my village overrun with monsters... all the Gorons chained up and Volvagia crying for Link before dying as himself... the Zoras frozen in ice... Shadow's suffering for my sake... Saria, Darunia, Ruto, Impa, Nabooru- everyone who died because of this wretched beast=_

"NO MORE!" I screamed and sliced my blade right into Ganon's face. I did not stop- I continuously slashed at his face in every direction possible, with each slice for a crime that he committed. I might as well have blinded him and not be aware of it, though I could see his reddish green blood escape with each wound- some of which felt as if it had spilled onto me, but I didn't care.

Up, down, diagonally- it didn't matter what I was doing to him. I allowed my anger to take over and merge with my duty to end this monster's life. I couldn't even stop myself, as everything that had been pent up inside me was unleashed and I took it out upon Ganon.

"YOU WILL NOT TAKE ANYONE PRECIOUS TO US EVER AGAIN!" I screamed. "YOU WILL NEVER HAVE HYRULE AND MAKE IT YOUR IMAGE, SO LONG AS I EXIST!"

Finally, I drew my blade back and with a great thrust, I stabbed it right into his head.

His face was a bleeding mess, his nose was sliced up, and his eyes were shut and covered in blood. Link's spell vanished and allowed Ganon to move, but it was too late for him to protect himself.

"This is for everyone." I growled.

I twisted the blade and shoved it further into his head, before ripping it out-not straight out, but diagonally, which caused the blade to burst out with a spray of blood.

Ganon drew back with a sound of rage that almost deafened my ears and he began to blindly swipe at me. I was almost amazed that he was still alive, despite what I had done to him, but then he fell over with a great thud and remained still.

I waited and held my sword out.

No... I _had_ to take the Triforce of Power this time! I raised my sword up one last time and prepared for one last ending blow.

One yellow eye opened up and the next thing I knew, I felt a hand grab and squeeze me as tightly as possible.

"ZELDA!" Link screamed, just as another hand came towards me. I thought Ganon was going to pull my head off, but it turned out that Ganon was pulling Ivan away from me.

"IVAN!" I screamed.

My companion let out a horrified yell as he was pinched between Ganon's fingers and the beast eyed him in a way that was very unsettling, like he was some sort of meal.

" **Fairy... life..."**

"NO!" I screamed as Ivan let out a piercing scream and some sort of blue sparkling energy began escaping from his body and trailed towards Ganon.

 **-Ivan's POV-**

I could feel my life force being drained out of my body faster than it takes for a leaf or paper to burn away under a flame.

I am _not_ a healing fairy- I do not specialize in healing others because I don't know how to do so without giving up my life force; I don't even have the natural abilities.

And now this monster was about to take my life away- all of it.

 **-Link's POV-**

I can't do this anymore. Every part of my being is screaming to end Ganon but everything Zelda had done was about to be for nothing; she was not going to be able to have enough strength to face Ganon a second time.

I had to fall back on the last resort, even when I knew I was making a horrible mistake and the part of me that was still Shadow was screaming curses at me for not finishing Ganon off.

Thankful that I had been able to grab the biggoron's sword during the fight, I now raised it above my head in a careful arc. With as much strength as I could manage, and with the aid of the Triforce of Wisdom to guide my hand and provide the needed force for what I was about to do, I threw the blade right towards Ganon's head.

The blade made perfect contact and pierced him through the nose. He let out a scream and released Zelda in the process, but I didn't stop myself there- I had to do what I hoped I would never have to resort to.

"Six Sages," I glanced to the sky "lend me your power! NOW!" I raised my hands to the heavens as if reaching out for something and a yellow light came out of my hands.

When the light shot up into the heavens, I collapsed; I was too drained of magic and strength to do anything else.

I don't know if we can get the Triforce of Power from Ganon now- the Triforce of Power will corrupt him and lock him into the form of a monster and he will only want to kill and survive like any common animal. Its one thing if he's a normal man who is near death, but he'll abuse the power to keep himself alive- and the only way to force him back into that form is to send him into the sacred realm.

That's when I noticed something- Zelda was running right back at Ganon and was trying to attack the hand that held onto her companion with the Master Sword.

She was going to get dragged into the sacred realm with Ganon!

I didn't know who was in control when my mind snapped- if it was Shadow or if it was myself.

With a burst of energy, I forced myself to run towards them. The moment I was a few feet away from Zelda, everything turned white and almost blinded me.

 **-Chamber of the Sages-**

"Ancient Creators of Hyrule!" Rauru commanded. "Now open the sealed door and send the Evil Incarnation of Darkness into the void of the Evil Realm!"

One by one, each Sage representing a race from the land of Hyrule readied themselves with a stance and a prayer to gather their power. Each one became engulfed in a specific color, which let out a bright light. All of the lights spiraled together into the air and twirled through the temple of the sages, until they merged together at the center of their pillar onto the mark of the Triforce and a great white vortex was created.

Finally, with the final sage's power, Ganon was forced into the realm and was dropped down towards the vortex, which sucked him in. However he still carried Ivan his grasp and Zelda falling after him.

The sages could do nothing but watch on in horror at what was happening. They all feared for the girl's life as they wondered just what could have gone so horribly wrong to cause this.

Seeing that his opponent was following him into the prison the sages were trying to set up, the beast let out a horrible laugh that was inflicted with the pain he still felt. He pulled the blade from his head and let go of it as Zelda managed to grab onto his hand.

" **You foolish girl! Your pathetic friendships have been your down fall!"** He half laughed and half snarled at the same time. **"Your allies are about to condemn you along with me! In the end, you are just their tool- a child turned into a slayer of monsters! It was all for nothing!"**

Zelda turned her head to face Ganon and he was bestowed a very cold glare.

 _Go ahead girl- be angry at me. Its all that you can do now before I make you suffer for eternity._

Zelda held out the Master Sword; the mark of the Triforce glowed on the back of her hand in a dazzling brilliance. A second later, the Master Sword was engulfed with a yellow light and became endowed with the power of courage itself. This light also engulfed the wielder to the point that it was as if both her and the sword were one- she had become the Juror of Courage in the title's purest form.

Zelda raised the Master Sword above her head as high as she could.

"Shut up." She calmly, yet sharply retorted.

The Master Sword was plunged into Ganon's hand as hard as she could.

The beast let out a scream and let go of the fairy, whose life force had been drained to the point that Ganon's fatal injuries had been mostly healed. However, whatever the child had sent into his hand created a sensation that felt as if his flesh was being burned from the inside out.

Zelda was almost flung over when his hand had jerked from the pain, but she held onto the Master Sword and grabbed onto a spot between his fingers and hoisted herself up, while ripping the sword out in the process. She glanced around to find her fairy companion, only to see him floating and falling in the air- there was no way she could be able to reach him in time.

"Zelda!"

She glanced up to see Link falling towards Ivan. He quickly scooped the fairy up and threw a hand towards her.

With sword in hand, Zelda pushed herself out of Ganon's hand and threw herself at Link. By sheer luck or fate, they were able to grab onto each other and they held on as tightly as they could.

"Lend me your courage!" He yelled.

Zelda nodded and focused all her concentration into Link's hand and sought for the wisdom he contained inside him. Almost immediately, both marks of the Triforce flared up and Link himself became engulfed in a yellow light until the two teenagers were further protect within green, and blue light.

Meanwhile, the power of courage had been almost too much for Ganon to handle and he was forcibly reverted back to his Gerudo form. The agonizing burning and the sheer disbelief that he was defeated by a little girl was across his face in all its hideous glory. Yet when he saw that she was being taken away from him- denying him of his last victory- his pain was overtaken by the frustration and hatred he felt towards them all.

" **DAMN YOU!"** He screamed. **"DAMN YOU ALL! DAMN YOU LINK! DAMN YOU SAGES! DAMN YOU ZELDA!"**

The light that protected the teenagers vanished and transported them out of the chamber of the sages.

The sages silently watched from beyond as they held held steady and kept the gate open, while trying to force Ganondorf into his prison. Their was not even an ounce of pity shared between all six of them- each one of them had witnessed the horrors this man had unleashed and they held fast with firm determination.

" **DO NOT FORGET THAT I STILL HOLD THE TRIFORCE OF POWER! SOMEDAY I WILL ESCAPE AND I WILL EXTERMINATE YOUR DESCENDANTS FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!"**

If the Sages had heard this declaration, then they made no reaction to it. They would not relent for that would be what Ganondorf would want, so they left him to scream his threats up into the heavens as the light engulfed him.

" **I WILL COME AND TAKE AWAY YOUR KINGDOM! SO LONG AS I LIVE AND HAVE THE TRIFORCE OF POWER, I WILL COME BACK! YOU CANNOT ERASE ME FROM EXISTENCE! I CURSE YOU ALL TO LIVE WITH THAT KNOWLEDGE FOR THE REST OF YOUR MISERABLE LIVES!"**

His voice faded as did his presence until the light consumed him entirely.

The gates slammed shut and the light vanished; there was no longer any trace of Ganondorf left, except for the scars he left behind upon Hyrule and the history he had created.

One by one the Sages vanished away- their purpose in this realm was done, and they wanted to be granted the final reward of seeing their homeland and their loved ones at peace.

* * *

 **Argh, why is the whole thing about Ganondorf not getting killed off in OoT so complicated?! I had to figure out a reason why he didn't die from getting stabbed in the head and why it would be necessary to seal him away in the game.**

 **This was not an easy chapter to write since the Ganon fight isn't as spectacular as the other final boss fights (other than atmosphere.) This included coming up with a reason as to why Ganon wasn't just killed off. The finale had at least two or three re-writes to make up for it (one of which had Sunny- Saria's fairy- save Zelda and Ivan instead of Link.)**

 **I'm very tempted to include an alternate ending in this fic that focuses on the 'Hero Defeated Timeline.' It might be released with this fic's true ending at the same time, or it will get its own one shot. I leave it up to YOU guys to decide if you want this or not (I can't promise it will be a happy chapter, but think of it as one of my filler chapters, except that it's 1/3 canon to the story.)**

 **Other than that, this fan fic is coming to an end, and I promised I would end the hiatus on Hyrule Warriors Warped this month, but I can finish this fic before I resume work on it, if you guys want me to. I've had it in my head for a long time so it'll be really easy for me to write out.**


	17. Time shattered

**Lumina Balderson: Wish granted! :) Presenting the bad ending and hopefully I did ok with it.**

 **HeroAlexa249: Zelda wasn't calling out the names, though that would have been as effective. I've only seen the abridged version of DBZ so I'm not picturing that scenario as a serious one (I know, I'm lame.) I can see where your going with Link's Awakening, though Link's probably done similar horrible things throughout his incarnations.**

 **To answer your question, Ghirahim is P. about what Link had done to cause the events in the first place as well as the thing with the biggoron's sword. Unfortunately there's one more thing that's about to set him off...**

 **Also: Re-deads! The ultimate henchmen to Ganondorf! No wonder it was there at the end/the final normal monster to face!**

 **mysteriousguy898: Agreed on those missing ninja skills! Someone obviously never taught her the stop-drop-and-roll technique, though that dress looked really flammable.**

 **Final fights are tricky because I don't WANT it to be easy, especially when I write them out. In most cases the hero WOULD be tired out by then and facing the bad guy despite that makes them greater than if they were super powered. Plus it makes things interesting without having any fairies on hand in-story.**

 **Poor HWW Zelda is probably going to have it the worst when its time.**

 **I couldn't resist making another 'whoopsie' joke. It was begging to be done.**

 **The 'CURSE YOU' bit has always been too cheesy for me, so I changed up the dialogue on purpose.**

* * *

 _Sometimes something can change the course of history._

 _All actions have consequences- sometimes it is a trick of fate._

 _What if it was the end side instead of the flat side of the weapon that was used?_

 _This is the destined path that leads to decline._

 _This is one of two different outcomes._

 **Chapter 17: Time Shattered**

My body was getting tired again and it was not looking good.

"The Master Sword!" I yelled to Link. "Please hurry-"

"WATCH OUT!" Ivan screamed at me.

I felt something heavy and hard slice into my side. At first I felt the force, but then I felt a horrible agony somewhere on my side and I knew what had happened to me.

I screamed as I went soaring through the air and across the ground, before I came several feet away from where Link was. The biggoron's sword had flown right out of my hands at some point and not even a shield could be able to protect me.

So much pain... I could feel my blood spilling out of my wound and my clothes were getting wet by it. I could barely feel my legs and I couldn't register Ivan's screams as my senses were flooded from the pain of my injury. To make matters worse, I could hear Ganon coming for me.

I struggled to get up and gritted my teeth- Oh Nayru I wanted to scream! Just the slightest movement was unbearable. I looked up in time to see Link quickly reach for the Master Sword, just as the sound of large footsteps kept getting louder behind me. He was staring at me in horror with a familiarity that I didn't understand. I struggled to reach my hand towards him.

"Hurry!" I struggled to plea for my weapon. I could almost feel it calling out to me- I needed it even if I was in no condition to fight. I could sense that Ganon was standing right over me and yet I had to try fight and win! "Please hurry-"

I felt something grab my arm and I was pulled up into the air as a triumphant roar ringed in my ears.

I looked up in time to see the eyes of Ganon narrowing at me as he readied his sai like trident. I prayed for help, even though a part of me knew what was about to happen, even as Ivan's screams became more frantic.

And then I felt it- the trident sliced my stomach open.

I screamed as I felt everything inside me fall out and Ganon let go of my arm.

I became numb against anything else- even when I fell to the ground and into my own pool of blood. Every sound in my ears became muted and my vision was already blurring.

 _So this was what it was like to die._ A part of me wondered, but I didn't know I was thinking as I was slowly losing consciousness. Even memories quickly faded in an d out of my mind- memories of my childhood in the forest, my friends, my adventures and the accomplishments I made-

" _Hush a-bye, you may close your eyes, you are safe with me at your side. Don't you fear, I am here, my dear, where you may dream."_

Mother's voice calls out to me somewhere in my mind and I struggle to block it out, even as I'm slowly dying. I don't want to die and yet I know its too late. My head flops on one side and I can make out a blurry green figure crying out my name.

Everything swirled and became dull... darkness took over and then... nothing.

 **-?-**

The stone chapel's only light source was a blue light that peered through a window in the ceiling. This light blanketed a beautiful corpse inside a coffin in a bittersweet radiance, while the only person in the chapel gazed upon her form as he held a white rose in his hand.

the hooded figure stared into the coffin, where the body of the Hero of Time rested in eternal slumber. She looked exactly as he foresaw- dressed in white, with hints of soft blues and greens and dainty white flowers woven in her hair.

Never had death seemed to look so beautiful.

He flipped his hood off as he stared at her with an eye aged far beyond his years while the other had been damaged by a horrible disfigurement of a burn upon one side of his face. This eye was no longer blue, not did it look human, but it was as if he had a pale moon in its place.

These were the eyes of King Link Khronos Hyrule, whose coronation was on a battlefield and who carried blood upon the crown that was bestowed upon his head.

Except in this moment he was not a king but a lost soul who gazed upon his greatest shame.

Carefully he set the rose in the girl's hands with one hand and momentarily paused when he felt how cold her flesh was before he respectfully pulled back.

"So this is how it ends- not with her becoming a celebrated hero, but in a coffin with little to no mourners." A voice rang out.

Link looked up to see someone he was not expecting, and yet at the same time he did; he only saw the young man before him once in a vision. He gave off a faint glow that was similar to the one in his usual form, but it was faint and allowed Link to see him for who he really was. His own blue eyes gazed upon Link with something that was both empty and filled with emotion.

"Ivan." Link silently addressed the young man before him. "Why is it that you appear before me like this?"

"I honestly don't know, and though I could think of several theories, I doubt I'll ever get a good answer." Ivan slowly shrugged. "If I'm going to give up on the logic of this world, I might as well give up on the logic of the one I'm probably going to."

He walked over and looked into the coffin, where Zelda lay. His frown deepened at the sight of her. "Did you see this coming, Prince of Destiny? Did you see Zelda die?" He bitterly asked.

"Yes." Link confessed. "Twice. I tried to prevent Zelda from going after Ganondorf, but I think he cursed me until it was too late. I wanted to prevent this from happening, but I didn't realize..." His voice trailed off.

Ivan continued to stare at Zelda. "I want to hate you." He confessed. "I really do, but Zelda wouldn't want that from me. I know that you suffered as much as she did, but did you really think it was a smart choice to have done half of the things you did?"

Ivan slowly turned to face him with a chilling look in his eyes. "If there is one thing that will hate you more than anything in the world, its going to be the Blade of Evil's Bane." Ivan told him. "If you thought it wouldn't let you touch it before, then I'm sure a far worser fate will be bestowed upon you if you try to touch it again."

Link faltered a little under his gaze, but he stayed fast as he recollected the events that lead to this moment. "I wanted to retrieve her body, but I was forcibly transported away from the ruins of the castle and you were left to die with her." He recalled.

"As you can see, Ganon was able to kill me too." Ivan gestured to his form. "After I died, he took the Triforce of Courage from Zelda and kept her body as a perfectly preserved trophy. To him, she was a fossilized insect trapped in sap."

"I know- I saw." Link shuddered as he turned to face the corpse in the coffin. "Ganon did the same thing to Zelda's body as he did to my mother when she died. He hoped that Zelda could be turned into a weapon to discourage Hyrule, but instead it only made the fire inside them burn with anger for all he had done. They adored Zelda and that was what encouraged them to fight for Hyrule and quit hiding. Unfortunately many died and several members of the various races had also fallen victim- most of them have left Hyrule by now.

Try as we did, there was only one way to trap Ganon and force him off the face of the earth. With the aid of the Sages and the sacrifices of the new knights of Hyrule, I lead Ganon into thinking that I would surrender my part of the Triforce."

"And you did." Ivan bitterly confirmed. "You let him take it-"

"And it came with consequences." Link moved his left arm out of the cloak and Ivan gasped as his eyes were greeted with charred and blackened flesh. The arm was destroyed beyond repair- Link could never be able to use it again.

"Why in Din's name do you still have that thing?!" Ivan briefly returned to his old self. "You should get that cut off! I'm surprised you haven't died from infection!"

Link ignored Ivan and continued his tale.

"When Ganon finally touched the Triforce, the Sages had transferred their powers into six individuals who would help seal Ganon away. The moment it did, Ganon laughed- it wasn't just any laugh. This was a laugh that was so horrendous that it felt as if it would echo through time and space and never stop. I swear I can even hear it when its too quiet at night."

Link stared at his useless hand. "So Ganon is now sealed in the sacred realm, along with the Triforce. One day he will escape, but that is when the descendants of the wise men- those who inherited he power of the Sages- will be ready for him." He then recollected the names. "Aiden, Kuromori, Kay, Reyah, Bethany, Aro, and myself. Our bloodline will be prepared for the inevitable."

Link dropped his arm and Ivan thought for a moment before he frowned.

"I've learned things in the afterlife that gave me some clarification." Ivan said. "They are things that made me understand why Zelda was chosen by fate and why the Master Sword wouldn't answer to you. Unfortunately most of them are horrible and you have a part in all of them. Or to be more specific, you have a certain habit in your bloodline that seems to be a hinderance. I don't suppose the word 'foresight' means anything to do, does it?" Ivan's frown turned into a deep scowl. "But then again, maybe it doesn't. Who knows what 'foresight' really means."

"Until your lineage understands the meaning of that word, I'm afraid you and your kingdom are now cursed. Your family will barely survive or destroy itself from the inside out. Your kingdom will see much hardship and there will come a day when Ganon will once again try to escape from his imprisonment as you already suspected. Even Zelda's successors will only be able to maintain peace for so long."

"Why are you saying this?" Link demanded as his sympathy for the fairy turned into anger. "Why are you cursing me when you know that I was only a child? I made sacrifices and suffered as much as Zelda did, even if it seems minuscule in comparison!"

"I'm not the one who is cursing you, Link." Ivan calmly replied. "The moment Zelda died, the soul of the Master Sword became hostile and will not rest until either your family dies for good or until a successor can pull the sword from the pedestal. I promise you that if anyone touches the sword besides the successor, it will not end well for them. Until the successor shows proof of her virtues and lifts the sword, you will never know when Ganon will attack- it could be tomorrow, it could be long after your dead- who knows."

Ivan then reached inside the coffin as if to pick up Zelda, but instead he drew forth a small figure from out of Zelda's body- it was the spirit of the younger version of Zelda.

Ivan waited as the spirit of Zelda woke up in his arms, holding her in a careful bridal style. Gradually the small child's eyes opened and she came to her senses.

Ivan looked to Link and the young Zelda turned her gaze to the prince. "L...Link?" She asked.

"Zelda..." Link felt his heart stop as he realized the truth- this was Zelda as she really was this whole time. Even in adult form, she was still a child in spirit. The truth made the pain inside him much harder to bear and placed a hand over his mouth in horror. "Zelda, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for you to die!"

"What?" Zelda asked before she gasped and placed a hand to her throat. "My voice... I'm a child again?"

"You are Zelda." Ivan answered. "You are the age you are supposed to be."

The little girl looked up and her eyes widened in shock. "Ivan?!"

Ivan glanced down at the small child and gave her the first smile that Link ever seen him make. "Yes... its me."

"Whoa, you look good for a Hylian!"

"This is how I always looked under that light." Ivan answered with a chuckle.

As Zelda stared in awe at her companion's form, he glanced back to Link. "She did enough for you and she deserves her rest- I'm hoping your rule will be a good one Link, but I can't make any promises."

Link didn't know how to reply. What could you say when you wronged someone this much and 'sorry' wouldn't be enough for it?

"Don't be hard on him!" Zelda pleaded to Ivan. "I heard all that you said! Link had as much control over all that has happened as I did! This was all my fault too!"

"Don't do that!" Link demanded as tears threatened to escape his eyes. "Don't you dare blame yourself! If I could turn back time and fix everything, I would! I'd give up anything just for you to have the reward you deserve! And yes, I know that my word isn't enough- I can never do enough to make up for all that happened." Link sighed in defeat and turned away. "Saying sorry wouldn't even be enough."

Zelda stared at Link before she forced herself out of Ivan's grasp. The fairy silently protested, but Zelda didn't acknowledge it- all that mattered was Link knowing the truth. She walked around him and tugged on his arm, which made him open his eyes in confusion before he looked down. She gestured to the floor and he knelt down on one knee to properly face her instead of looking down at her.

Zelda gently touched the scared part of Link's face and guilt flashed in her eyes, but it was only momentarily. "Link." Zelda began. "I..." she closed her eyes and smiled before opening them. "I hope you become a good king." She moved forward and gave him a reassuring hug.

"I hope one day we will meet again." She whispered into his ear. "Maybe next time things will go right."

When she pulled away and went to Ivan, Link remained as he was as he realized that Zelda had forgiven him. When he finally turned around, the girl was already back in Ivan's arms and she held onto him, though her eyes were still locked with Link's.

"I never regret what I did for you and Hyrule. Please never forget that, Link." She told him.

Ivan's grip on Zelda tightened as his wings appeared behind him. He glanced up to the heavens as a light shone down upon them and he was raised up towards it.

Zelda and Link never lost their gaze upon each other until they were out of each other's sight. Instead of the sorrow that Link had expected, he felt as if the emptiness inside him had vanished. For the first time in a long time he was happy and content.

"I promise, Zelda." He smiled up at the light; he would try to maintain peace in Hyrule in her name.

Meanwhile, the two souls were ascending to the heavens. "Where are we going Ivan?" Zelda asked as she looked up at Ivan.

"Well, wherever we go, hopefully we will be seeing your mother, the Great Deku Tree, Sunny, and all of the others." Ivan hopefully answered. "If there's going to be a heaven, it better be exactly like that."

"Maybe everything will make sense up there for you." Zelda chuckled. "Or maybe cows can produce chocolate milk if they eat chocolate."

Ivan let out a small laugh at this. "Yeah probably."

"Hey Ivan?"

"Yes Zelda?"

"I... I wont be able to be with you forever, will I?" She asked. "Hyrule will need me again and I'll have to leave you alone in heaven."

Ivan's hold tightened up around Zelda, but in a secure, comforting way. "I promise that until that time comes, I'll always be by your side. And even if or when you have to go back down, I'll always be watching out for you from somewhere."

Zelda gave Ivan a smile and wrapped her arms around her companion. "I'd like that very much."

 **-Centuries later-**

A young blonde haired teenager dressed in blue and white sat on a stool under her favorite apple tree and tapped a quill against her jaw- the feather tickling her face- as she looked at the pages of notes for a book she was hoping to write.

"Hmm... no that wouldn't work. I don't think it would be possible to have an icy domain near a volcano." She tried to think this over. "Maybe I should put something else in instead, like a swamp... yeah that sounds like a good idea!" She grinned and jotted down her idea. "Oh yeah and then the hero could face some sort of unique obstacle! Like avoid getting sick or poisoned by toxic fumes!"

The wind blew through the trees and produced a soothing sound of leaves rustling within it. It was comforting in the girl's ears and made her smile as it always reminded her of something, but she couldn't put her finger on it. The only thing that came to mind was a shimmering sound, like a fairy flying through the air.

"Zelda!" A voice called out from somewhere beyond the grove.

"COMING FATHER!" Zelda yelled back as she gathered her things and put them in a bag. She took a glance at the sky and noticed the clouds in the distance. "There'll be rain soon." She noted with a frown. "Ever since the rumors of young men getting kidnapped have been spreading, things have become more ominous around here."

She slung the bag over her shoulder and walked away from her spot.

" _Zelda."_

"Hmm?" She glanced around and waited, but no one came out to greet her. "Must have been my imagination." She shook her head with a smile and walked away.

 _I'll always be watching out for you, my Zelda._

* * *

 **I am not going to do a Link to the Past AU. This game WAS the first Zelda game I was exposed to, but if I did do an AU it would be a short one that would only cover what I deem worth covering.**

 **Now lets rewind the clock and return to the correct timeline. I promise I'll get it set up really soon since it's 90% done. (And I'll finish that filler chapter for Hyrule Warriors Warped before this month ends. Its given me a hard time.)**

 **(Also, if anyone cares, the first two chapters of my book are up on inkshares.)**


	18. To rewind time

**MercenaryCrime: I'm not bashing Link in this fan fic. Its mainly how I think some would react to the choices that were made by Zelda in the game's canon universe- or in this case Link's choices. I admit I do find it a little too harsh for this Link (or, in the canon universe, Zelda) especially since he was a kid when he made those choices but I notice that some Zeldas don't fully consider certain outcomes and Hylia is included thanks to an important (yet highly enjoyable) loose end that was neglected in her plan in Skyward Sword that she should have been aware of.**

 **I am not saying all Zeldas have this fault; I like both Zelda and Link as characters and I am glad that they are more than just roles in a story. Unfortunately, in this case, there would be people who would be angry at the choices that were made, while others are more forgiving and more understandable. (which is important in both this story and in real life.)**

 **mysteriousguy898: I'd imagine the decline being about the same in this AU as it was in the games. The first game doesn't happen right after OoT though (or at least according to some), so there aren't any immediate cave homes just yet. (And I think the area in question is in a forgotten/abandoned part of Hyrule... and now I realize the Zelda AU counterpart for those first two games gets to have two Links to herself. LOL.)**

 **HeroAlexa249: Even as a good guy Ghirahim has it out for Link, which I find appropriate and in character. I** _ **was**_ **reminded of Snow White when I wrote that out (Cue the quote:** _ **'So beautiful, even in death that the dwarves could not find it in themselves to bury her'**_ **) and its fitting since Zelda has had the 'Sleeping Beauty' role a few times in the games. Sadly that sleep was permanent. A link to the Past is good but its very puzzle oriented at times and requires patience (the third boss made it onto the many lists of worst Zelda boss fights for a reason). I am happy that Zelda forgave Link- its better than leaving him with severe guilt. (and this time SHE ended up being the ghost from beyond the grave character in this fan fic. I just realized that.)**

 **ChangelingRin: THIS chapter is the one that leads into Wind Waker and-alternatively- the Majora's Mask game (or the time line in which Twilight Twists and Hyrule Warriors Warped fan fics will eventually occur). The last one leads to the A Link to the Past/A Link between worlds/the very first Zelda game timeline, but I can see why the sudden change confused you.**

 **Majora's Mask would be interesting to do, but I would rather finish Hyrule Warriors Warped before starting a new AU.**

 **OK- we now present the REAL ending to this fan fic.**

* * *

 _Remember, I will still be here_

 _As long as you hold me, in your memory_

 _Remember, when your dreams have ended_

 _Time can be transcended,_

 _Just remember me._

-Josh Groban, _Remember_

 _…._

 _And when I grow up,_

 _I will be smart enough to answer all_

 _The questions that you need to know_

 _The answers to before you're grown up._

-(later)-

 _And when I grow up_

 _I will be brave enough to fight the creatures_

 _That you have to fight beneath the bed_

 _Each night to be a grown up._

Matilda the Musical, _When I grow up_

 **Chapter 18: To rewind time**

"Zelda... Zelda can you hear me?"

I felt a strange weightlessness in my body as I slowly opened my eyes to make out Link's form and when I fully regained focus I could see him clearly, along with the fact that it was daylight. Never had the sky looked so blue or the clouds so white in what felt like such a long time.

"Are you alright?" Link asked. I nodded, but then I noticed something."You're out in the sunlight."

"Yeah," Link held his arm out and looked at it "it doesn't hurt me anymore."

"That's good." I smiled before I looked around. "Where are we?" I glanced around but I couldn't see anything for miles and miles except for the beautiful sky.

"Look down."

I did and saw that we were high above Hyrule's emerald and peridot colored fields while standing on nothing but the empty air. Yet I didn't feel as if I was going to fall at any moment, nor did I feel nauseous at the fact that I was so high up in the air.

"Its so beautiful." I murmured, before I remembered Ivan. "Where's Ivan?!" I demanded.

"Right here."A slightly weakened voice called to me. I turned my head to see Ivan flying next to me, but he wasn't flapping his wings and he appeared to be just drifting in the air.

"Ivan I'm so sorry!" I panicked and pleaded to the Goddesses that he made it out unscratched. "I didn't think Ganondorf would ever try to-"

"Its fine Zelda." Ivan wheezed reassuringly. "You got to him before something a lot worse could of happened to either of us."

"Ivan..." I wasn't reassured and I was troubled by Ivan's condition. Instead of bothering him, I turned to look back down upon the sunlit grounds of Hyrule. "We defeated Ganondorf... we sealed him away." I reflected. It wasn't the victory I wanted, but it was a victory nonetheless.

"Because of you, peace has returned to Hyrule." Link said with a warmth in his voice. "For that we could never be able to thank you enough."

I turned back to face him with a smile. "I suppose you'll finally be able to show yourself to your people and become the king. I hope you'll still follow in your mother's footsteps- I believe you'll be great."

Link's smile faltered and he looked troubled. "Link?" I frowned. "What's wrong?"

"I've done you and this country so much wrong by making the wrong choices." Link ran a hand through his hair and it stayed there for a moment. "I've thought over what I could do to make amends for so many years, but there are some that I know that can not be entirely within my power. I can't please everyone, but I still want to be able to do the right thing."

Link dropped his hand and gave me a serious look. "If you put the Master Sword back into its pedestal, the Door of Time will be closed forever. However, I want to offer you a choice as your reward- the choice that you deserve to have the right to make. Your childhood was taken away, but as a Sage, I can return you to the moment before you entered the Temple of Time. I can even try to make it so that you return to a time before Ganondorf attacked Hyrule Castle- you can prevent him from ever taking over or you can live out your life the way you choose to live, without any burdens, away from Hyrule.

Your other option is to stay here and help me rebuild this kingdom. The people know you and will do anything to support you in return, and you can do whatever you please as an adult- to be free and go see the world. However, I want you to make the choice that you want the most. Not for me, not for the people of Hyrule, but for yourself."

Link held his hand out. "If you give me the Ocarina of Time, I can return you to the way your supposed to be- to the life that you were denied."

I stared at him as what he told me went through my head. Deep down I knew what it was that I wanted, but I knew what could never be the same if I chose it. I was both a child and an adult- I could not be able to live through either possible timelines without a sacrifice.

And it wasn't just that- there were even more sacrifices I would have to make. I looked at Link and knew that I would lose this version of Link- the Link who suffered through so much and sacrificed his identity to protect his kingdom. The Link who had still been able to come to my aid and the Link who understood what I had gone through. The Link I would return to was still a naive boy who had yet to know what he could become, yet I couldn't wish this Link's fate on that child.

I could still be able to save those who died and alter everyone's fates. I had no idea how but I knew that if I took on one more burden then I could make time as a true ally. I would risk facing Ganondorf one last time if it meant I could change everything. Even if it meant that it would have made all my hard work go to waste.

Slowly I went to my pouch and rummaged through it before I found the Ocarina of Time. I pulled it out and looked at it one last time- to think that this instrument became one of my most prized possessions and had played such an important role in this whole ordeal. This would be the last time I would ever hold it again.

I placed it in Link's hand and covered it with my other hand- holding both instrument and Link's hand in my own.

I looked up into his eyes and realized that this was going to be the very last time I would see Link. I felt a pang of sorrow and regret as my throat tightened up and my eyes were starting to feel moist. Even though Link's expression was more guarded, I could see in his eyes that he was possibly thinking the same thoughts, yet he didn't dare try to do anything.

I let go of Link's hand and he drew it close to him, when a strange flash of inspiration struck. Before I could stop myself I drew him into an embrace and kissed him as hard on the lips as I could.

Link flinched in shock, but I didn't let go and softened my kiss until I felt him return the kiss back and the embrace.

We stayed there, locked together in the sky, and had one last moment together. Even if it was for a moment, it felt like an eternity to me as if I had mastered how to freeze time itself. For the first time, I thought I understood what it was like to be in love with someone and never want to let them go. I also understood what it was like to have my heart broken at the same time, even if this relationship was never meant to be.

I didn't want to let go of Link, and I don't know if he felt the same way too- I wanted this one moment to last forever- but I had to let him go.

I finally pulled away from the kiss and grabbed his shirt in my shaking hands. "Please don't forget me." I requested. "Promise me that you'll try to remember me once in awhile."

"I will." He whispered. "Even when we have all died in this timeline, your legacy will live on. I'll make sure of it."

He gave me one last hug, before he finally let go of me and backed away.

"Good-bye Ivan." Link addressed my companion.

"Good-bye Link." Ivan quietly, yet mournfully replied back.

Link looked at me and I tried to keep those melancholic blue eyes and that young, yet tired face planted in my mind as hard as I could. I struggled to keep my tears back but I failed to let one escape from me. He smiled one last time before he said his final good-bye.

"Good-bye Zelda... my Princess."

He drew the Ocarina of Time to his lips and played a familiar lullaby that was sweet yet full of a sadness that had not been conveyed with words or expressions.

As he played the melody, a blue light surrounded my body; I made no resistance and watched Link play the melody until he finished and we locked eyes one last time.

"Good bye Link." I smiled as the light finally pulled me up and away from Link. I shut my eyes when he was out of my sight and I let the light take me back... back to where I was supposed to be.

Even if a part of me was screaming to go back, I knew I made the right choice.

 **-Normal POV-**

Link found himself standing on the fields of Hyrule and he was entirely alone.

He glanced to where the castle and the town used to be. The dark clouds that plagued the northern end of Hyrule had been banished away by the light, which shone down upon those lands for the first time in seven years.

Link took a deep breath and for the first time in what felt like forever he enjoyed the sensation of the warm sun upon his body.

He heard a 'neigh' that was joined by galloping hooves and he turned to see a rust colored mare come right towards him. He waited until she came to a stop in front of him before he smiled and patted her nose. "You must have known it was me all this time, didn't you Epona?" He asked. "I'm sorry, but Zelda and Ivan are gone. They went back home where they were supposed to be."

Epona blinked her soulful eyes at the future king and bowed her head. The fact that she wanted to try to see her mistress again touched Link and it made him realize just how many people were going to have to know why their hero would not be able to celebrate with them.

As he petted Epona, Link saw something that made him stop in confusion. There, next to the Triforce of Wisdom, was the Triforce of Courage upon the back of his hand.

He drew away from Epona and stared at it in wonder until he realized that the Triforce had to exist in this era and Zelda's fraction must have transferred to him when she left this timeline.

Unfortunately, if he held both parts of the Triforce, they would try to call out for the Triforce of Power and Ganondorf would come back. As much as Link wanted to keep the last physical memory of Zelda that he now possessed, Courage could not exist with Wisdom. Courage on its own would be both a temptation and a threat upon Hyrule and he didn't know who to entrust it to.

 _Not unless you hide it in darkness._ Shadow's voice echoed in his head.

Realizing that there was something he could do- the _only_ thing he could do in this moment while he still had the chance- Link took out the Dark Mirror and held his hand over it. He willed the Triforce of Courage to leave him and when it did, he quickly forced it into the Mirror. Dark matter that once made up the physical form of Shadow escaped from the surface and sucked the golden relic in until it went in entirely and vanished from sight.

"Here my command, Dark Mirror." Link said as he held the mirror up. "I want you to shatter the Triforce of Courage into many pieces. Once that is done, you will divide yourself into the same amount of fragments and vanish into different parts of Hyrule for many years. Only when the Hero of Time's destined successor is born shall be when you allow her birthright to reappear in these lands once more."

The Mirror's surface turned black before Link threw it down onto the ground with all his strength.

Upon impact, the mirror shattered into eight orbs of darkness which then swiftly flew across the land to parts unknown. Link watched until he was sure that every part of the mirror had vanished from sight, until he went to Epona and got himself upon her saddle.

Link looked around until he saw where exactly he was and made Epona head towards Kakariko Village, where the largest number of Hyrule's population resided.

 **-Many Nights Later-**

Many members of Hyrule and its races had gathered at Lon Lon Ranch to celebrate the end of Ganondorf's reign. In the center of the corral was a ring of multi colored flames and everyone surrounded it as they took part in the festivities.

As Malon sang to her listeners (and had a chorus of singing carpenters to accompany her on the side) she observed the gaiety and happiness. Even seeing her father and Mr. Ingo holding onto each other and swaying in time to the music along with the many dancing Zoras, Kokiris, and Gorons brought a smile to her face.

When she finished singing, she excused herself to walk around and see who was doing what. Alot of the Hyrule Town citizens were watching or talking amongst each other, two Kokiri children were spinning an upside down Windmill Guy (she had no idea what his real name was.), shop keepers were gathered together, along with the old Lake professor, or were dancing, and to her surprise the Gerudo were also joining in celebration with some sort of line dance, while a huge Goron was dancing by himself.

As she walked, Malon noticed a young Goron quietly speaking to a Gerudo and two men- one of which was a Sheikah.

"You know, we can offer help if you want." The Sheikah told the Goron. "Aiden and I would help make your future rule a little easier for the time being. We could all use a little help."

"I would like to have the Gerudo become more open to working with Hyrule." The Gerudo woman added. "I doubt Hyrule will ever forgive us, but we would also like to make amends. Its what Nabooru would have wanted."

Malon's smile vanished as she recalled the losses that were inflicted in the battle to save Hyrule. How many people were in mourning compared to those who were celebrating?

She thought she noticed Epona outside the corral, along with her rider. A strong part of her was hoping that it was Zelda returning to them, despite what she had heard, and she headed towards the gates. However the Zora King was blocking the way, along with a young Kokiri child and a fairy.

Both of them looked incredibly depressed. Even the fairy by the boy's side didn't seem to enjoy flying around that much and only occasionally flapped his wings.

"Um-" Malon began as she stood in front of them. King Zora looked up and scooted to the side to allow her to pass through, but before she did, the boy looked up at her and called for her.

"Miss?" He asked. "Did you ever meet Zelda?"

"And Ivan?" The fairy asked.

"I did." Malon smiled. "She was a friend of mine and helped me out once."

"Was she happy?" The boy asked.

Malon recalled the memories of happier times, as well as what little time she spent with Zelda when they reunited. "She was. It wasn't easy for her, but she was happy."

The boy had a regretful look on his face and returned his gaze at the ground.

Malon was finally able to get outside of the corral, but she only made it a few steps towards Epona when she heard the boy cry out "Saria?!"

Malon turned around in time to see a shower of sparks rain down from the sky. She looked up in time to see that they came from what looked like a series of colorful comets, with each one being a different color and there were five in total.

"DAD!" A voice yelled out in triumph from in the corral. "I promise I'll be the man you want me to be!"

Malon had no idea what was going on but something in her heart knew the truth. What she was seeing were the spirits of the Sages trailing across the sky and letting their friends and family know that they were with them in spirit.

As the spirits disappeared into the horizon, Malon realized that someone was standing beside her. She turned to see her future king holding onto the reigns of Epona as he stared up into the sky with a melancholic smile.

"I'm going to miss Zelda and Ivan." Malon didn't know what else to say. "I hope they are happy wherever they went."

Link turned to face Malon. "I hope so. I really hope they find happiness."

Somewhere many miles away, high up on Death Mountain, five of the Sages gathered together to gaze upon their homeland for what was going to be the last time. Saria rested on top of Darunia's head, Ruto and Nabooru shared a glance, and Impa pondered the future of the kingdom, as well as what would happen to Link, but she reassured herself that all would turn out alright.

They all stared at the lands of Hyrule, knowing what they would leave behind, but they also knew that, whatever would happen, they choose the right path and made the right sacrifices.

 **-Many years later-**

In time the new Hyrule Castle had been built in a new location. It had taken awhile for it to come into existence, as King Link Khronos Hyrule had turned his focus on his people first and foremost, but the new castle had finally been built and managed to be even grander then the old one in appearance.

In the grand hall, a red headed girl of about ten gazed up at a stone statue depicting the Hero of Time. The Hero held her shield out and her sword was aimed up at the sky, while a triumphant smile graced her features. There was also a certain feature to the statue that had been insisted upon- a crystal material partially spiraled around the Hero, starting at her feet and ended near the left of her head, without obstructing her form. On the top end of the crystal was a stone fairy.

"Its remarkable isn't it?"

The young girl turned around to face her grandfather. The years had not been kind to him in his old age, though he was still strong enough to walk on his own without help. His blue eyes gazed up at the statue as he joined his granddaughter and the girl could see that the sight made him nostalgic, as well as a sad.

"It looks exactly like her- its as if I was sent back to that moment in time and she's standing in front of me with her companion." He mused. "If only she could turn into flesh and speak to me, but I doubt she would recognize who I am."

The granddaughter wondered about the relationship between the hero and her grandfather- the former king of Hyrule. It wasn't the first time, but sometimes...

"Did you love her grandfather?" She asked. "Did you love her so much that you could have kept her for yourself?"

The king gave the girl an incredulous look. "Daphne Noelle Hyrule, are you implying that you would have rather have be be that selfish?! I wanted Zelda to be happy and I made the decision to give her a choice because she deserved it. It wasn't easy- a part of me _was_ selfish and wanted her to stay with me, but I knew in my heart that I would rather set her free if it meant she could be happy. Besides, I wouldn't have married your grandmother, would I?"

"Of course not." Daphne blushed with embarrassment. The old man chucked. "I swear its a miracle Malon's red hair passed down to you. You must be the fifth generation on her side of the family to have inherited it."

Daphne smiled with pride, but it lowered when her grandfather continued. "As a queen, you will be forced to make difficult decisions- there will come days where you have to put your heart aside to make the right choice, and maybe there will be a day where you will be forced to make the biggest sacrifice imaginable. As long as you know what kind of person you are and who you want to be- as long as you understand that you can make mistakes, but can also learn from them, then I think you'll do more than fine."

"Thank you Grandfather." Daphne carefully hugged the old man and helped him up the steps. She made to leave, but then her grandfather walked to the statue and rested a hand upon it. She watched as he stared up into the eyes of the statue for what felt like an eternity, yet Daphne didn't mind waiting. She had a feeling she knew what was going through her Grandfather's head.

He sighed and rested his head against the statue. "Thank you." He whispered to it.

Seven days later the former King Link Khronos Hyrule- husband to the late Queen Malon and grandfather to the future Queen Daphne Noelle Hyrule- passed away in his sleep.

 **-Somewhere in a different timeline-**

 **-Zelda's POV-**

I heard a ringing noise surrounding me and I opened my eyes to see the blue light vanishing away to reveal that I was back in the Temple of Time, in front of the Master Sword.

Silently I looked at myself; I had been returned back into the body of a ten year old, though my mind felt as if it had aged well beyond that. I didn't have the mentality of a ten or seventeen year old but I suppose that I had done a lot of growing up through my journey.

I looked up at the Master Sword; I suppose that in this timeline I hadn't touched it yet. It didn't even have that look of being alive anymore- I had this feeling that it was asleep now.

I stepped towards the sword and placed a hand on the guard for what I knew would be the last time. I doubted I would ever see the sword that helped me out in my journey but still...

"Thanks for your help." I smiled and withdrew my hand. I heard a wheezing sound above my head and I could see that Ivan was bobbing up and down in the air.

"Ivan?" I was shocked at what I was seeing. What was happening to Ivan? I thought that if we went back in time then he would recover, like when my scars would vanish from my body.

Seconds later he stopped flapping his wings and fell out of the air. My reaction to grab him was quick and I caught him in the nick of time, before I carefully sat down on the ground.

"Ivan what's wrong?" I asked. "Please don't lie to me- I know your hiding something. Ganondorf did something to you."

Ivan was quiet and not only did he feel lukewarm in my hands, but I could feel something slowly pulsating, as if his heart rate was dropping.

Ganondorf did something to Ivan, but I had no idea what it was. Ivan didn't die from being crushed, but something happened and I wanted to be angry at Ganondorf, but I didn't. I was _tired_ of being angry at him.

And yet this was not fair- Ivan didn't deserve to die. Why did this have to happen to him?

"I can't keep my promise to you." Ivan sounded regretful in his weakened voice- gone was the fire and the curiosity he always had. "I don't think I'm going to be able to do the things I promised I'd do with you when this was all over."

The tears I thought I'd stop crying were coming back, but this time it was a lot worse. I knew what was happening, but I didn't want it to. I did not want Ivan to be the last person to die in my journey.

"I don't want it to end like this." Ivan confessed. "I'm more afraid of what you'll have to face on your own than dying and not knowing whats on the other side. I lived a good life-" He took a deep gasp of air "-Don't ever let people get to you and tell you that you aren't good enough or that you aren't your own person. Don't let the bad things stay with you forever... remember the good things and... know that there are people who want you to be happy... do that for me, ok?"

"Ivan." I quietly sobbed as the tears ran down and began to fall off my face. "I don't want you to go. You don't deserve this- I should never have-"

"I don't regret staying by your side." Ivan was getting weaker by the minute, but his voice was firm. "I'm glad I was there for you when you needed me. Now I want you to be able to face the world without me... stand tall and be proud of what you've accomplished... Go take the chance Link gave you to live the life you want. And-"

He took another gasp of air. "-be strong Zelda. Be strong on the inside, ok?"

I nodded my head. "I will." I promised as I gave Ivan the best smile that I could, despite how much his dying moments were tearing me up on the inside.

"Good." Ivan wheezed as the yellow light from the window of the temple shone down upon us. "Don't forget it."

I took a deep sigh and brought Ivan towards my head. I shut my eyes and gently bowed my head against him- he was getting colder by the second. I slowly stood back up and lowered my arms as I brought my head back up and opened my eyes.

As if by some stroke of a miracle or through some sort of spiritual moment of calling, Ivan was able to flap his wings again and fluttered out of my hands. For one moment I thought he was going to be alright, but I saw him release a trail of sparks as he flew towards the window. I never recalled that ever happening before and yet...

I never let my eyes leave my companion as he flew towards the window and he slowly began to disappear as the sparks flew out of his body. He went towards the sunlight and never stopped flying up towards it until he vanished from my sight.

And then he was gone.

I stared up at the window for a few moments as the tears slowly stopped and I wiped them away as I took a moment to compose myself. "I promise I'll make you proud Ivan."

With determination in my heart, yet a sense of ease overcoming me, I turned around and walked towards the exit, where I could attempt to begin changing the fate of this timeline. As if to reassure me and say that time would be my ally, the bells of the temple rang loud and true for me and me alone.

 **-Normal POV-**

A young Prince Link practiced his swordplay in his private courtyard with Volvagia nearby.

He heard word that a young girl had come to the castle and informed both Impa and his mother what Ganondorf was planning and what would happen if they allowed things to remain as they were, as well as what he would do to the kingdom. Curiously enough, it was said that the girl proved her word by revealing a mark of the Triforce on the back of her hand.

All Link knew now was that Ganondorf had left the castle and swore revenge upon them all; It was very worrisome and he hoped that Zelda would return soon. Perhaps it had been a mistake to send her out to collect the spiritual stones on her own and for him to hold onto the Ocarina of Time.

"Link!" Volvagia chirped.

Link stopped his sword and turned around to see Zelda standing across the courtyard. He immediately dropped his sword and slightly jogged towards her, before stopping when he got a better look at her.

Zelda looked different and he couldn't put his finger on it. Was it in her eyes or was it in how she held herself? And where was Ivan?

"Link?" Volvagia chirped to Zelda. She gave the dragon a surprised look as if the dragon shouldn't exist at all and clutched a hand to her chest- the mark of the Triforce rested upon the backside of her hand as if it were a birthmark.

"Zelda?" Link asked.

Zelda glanced up from Volvagia- a Volvagia who was still alive and innocent- to Link. This Link was also innocent- he would never lose his mother, become Shadow, or live with a tremendous guilt inside him. This Link would never become _that_ Link, but Zelda didn't mind that.

"Oh!" Link took the cap off his head and held it out to her. "I'm sorry, but this was yours, right?"

Without warning, Zelda ran to Link and slammed into him as she hugged him as tightly as she could. He didn't know how to react until he heard her crying and he immediately hugged her back.

Two children stood in that courtyard and were hugging each other- one giving the other the comfort that she deserved, even if he had yet to know what had happened.

Volvagia could sense that the girl's tears were that of sadness, but also something else... happiness. "...Happy." He quietly chirped out the word he was seeking. "Happy."

There was no telling what the future would hold. Time is funny like that- it's always full of unpredictable moments. Until then, time had been rewound for the young girl so that not only could she be able to change fate, but so that she could be able to be, as the dragon had said aloud, happy.

And though her future would still have a handful of difficulties and in store for her, it was also going to be a happy one. Just as Ivan had hoped.

* * *

 **The end... or at least until I feel like doing Majora's Mask or until you read Twilight Twists and Hyrule Warriors Warped to find out what happened to this Zelda.**

 **Now let's talk about the ending.**

 **I always found the game's ending to be sad or a little confusing but still bittersweet. It was sad knowing that this time there would be two big goodbyes to do this time around.**

 **Link's ending was sad for its inevitability and that the good-bye in the game was sad to begin with.**

 **I figured that Link would have ended up with Malon in the Adult Timeline. I might not be a LinkxMalon shipper, but I could see that this would have happened and its a fair compromise for all the times I've paired Link up with Zelda in this series. (Ivan wouldn't have been happy if he found out though.)**

 **I don't have to say why Daphne (not the one from Twilight Twists) is important or say who she is, do I? It was a little sad to write about Link's final moments and eventual death in the Adult Timeline, but I knew I had to write it out.**

 **Ivan's ending... Ok here we go.**

 **I originally thought that Ivan could end up becoming the Great Fairy from Twilight Twists as I had a theory that Navi was the Great Fairy in Twilight Princess. It became impossible when Ivan's personality was becoming something entirely different than the personality f the other one. I could not see Ivan leave Zelda behind and especially not without an explanation; unfortunately I had to make his good-bye be the one where the companion died. I'll miss writing him, but he'll make one last cameo in Hyrule Warriors Warped so that kind of makes this less depressing.**

 **You know, it feels so weird- this au was supposed to have the most childish Zelda and yet so many people had to die in it, from chapter one to the very last one. Each Zelda AU I write always has the formula where I enjoy the humor but then I have to do the goodbye scenes. I have this weird knack for writing goodbye scenes that end up being depressing, even when they are inevitable. One day I need to break that cycle.**

 **I don't know if I'll do Majora's Mask or Wind Waker. I'd rather finish Hyrule Warriors Warped before I make anymore Zelda fan fics and I promised long ago that Minish Cap would be next, but even then I don't know when I'll be able to write another Zelda fan fic.**

 **Thank you guys for reading this fan fic, with special thanks to those who reviewed it. (Triple thanks to those who liked it so much that they reviewed each chapter.) Thanks for your patience for how long it took for me to finish it. Thank you for making this story worth writing and continuing.**


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